Mount Semeru Erupts, Spewing 600-Meter Ash Column
- 24 Jun 2026 12:59 WIB
- Voice of Indonesia
Key Points
- Mount Semeru erupted on the morning of June 24, 2026, on the border of Lumajang and Malang regencies in East Java.
- The eruption produced a dense gray ash-and-gas column rising approximately 600 meters above the summit.
RRI.CO.ID, Lumajang - Mount Semeru on the border of Lumajang and Malang Regency in East Java erupted early Wednesday, June 24, 2026, sending an ash-and-gas column rising about 600 meters above the summit, officials reported.
“An eruption of Mount Semeru occurred on Wednesday, 24 June 2026, at 6:22 a.m. Jakarta time with the eruption column observed at approximately 600 meters above the summit or 4,276 meters above sea level,” said an officer at the Mount Semeru observation post, Yadi Yuliandi, in a written report from Lumajang.
He added that the ash column appeared gray and dense, drifting toward the west. The eruption registered on seismographs with a maximum amplitude of 22 millimeters and lasted about 130 seconds.
Monitoring between midnight and 9 a.m. Jakarta time recorded 14 explosion or eruption events with amplitudes of 15–22 mm. Additionally, teams registered three collapse quakes, two emission quakes, one harmonic signal, and one distant tectonic quake.
Yadi said volcanic activity at Semeru is currently at Level III or Alert and reiterated safety recommendations for residents and visitors. People are prohibited from entering the southeastern sector along the Besuk Kobokan valley up to 13 kilometers from the summit, the area identified as the eruption center.
Outside that sector, he advised avoiding any activity within 500 meters of riverbanks along Besuk Kobokan because of the risk of expanding hot clouds and lahars that could reach up to 17 kilometers from the peak.
“Communities are forbidden to be active within a five-kilometer radius of the crater/summit of Mount Semeru, because it is vulnerable to hazards from ejected incandescent rocks,” said Yadi, as quoted by Antara.
He urged people to remain vigilant for potential pyroclastic flows, lava avalanches, and lahars along rivers and valleys originating at the summit, especially along Besuk Kobokan, Besuk Bang, Besuk Kembar, and Besuk Sat. He also warned that small tributaries branching from Besuk Kobokan could channel dangerous lahars downstream. ***
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