The Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation reports that the Semeru volcano in Indonesia’s East Java province erupted five times today, spitting volcanic ash up to 900 meters above its peak.
According to officer Liswanto of the Semeru Volcano Monitoring Post, “the first eruption was at 6:29 a.m. local time, with a column of white to grey ash as high as 500 meters heading to the southwest,” as reported by China’s Xinhua news agency.
When the third eruption happened at 7:28 a.m. local time, an ash column as high as 700 meters was released. The second eruption happened at 6:50 a.m. local time, launching ash as high as 600 meters above its peak.
Volcanic ash was thrown up to 500 meters in the fourth eruption and nearly a kilometer (over 900 meters) in the fifth, which happened at 7:57 a.m. and 8:05 a.m. local time, respectively.
Authorities have urged people to stay out of the danger zone within a 5 km radius and 13 km southeast of the crater to prevent harm from hot clouds, lava flows and lahars,
People are advised to avoid rivers that originate from the Semeru crater against possible cold lava flows.
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