JAKARTA: Indonesia’s Mount Semeru in East Java erupted on Friday, unleashing a pyroclastic ash flow extending about four km downhill from its summit, ANTARA News Agency reported.
An officer at the Mount Semeru Observation Post, Sigit Rian Alfian, said the eruption occurred at 3.13 pm and continued for at least three hours.
Based on closed-circuit television (CCTV) monitoring at 4.01 pm, the pyroclastic flow was observed to have stopped about five km from the summit.
“The ash column was gray with high intensity, leaning toward the north and northeast. The eruption was recorded on a seismograph with a maximum amplitude of 22 millimetres and a duration of approximately 19 minutes and 52 seconds,” Alfian was quoted as saying.
Indonesia Centre for Volcanology and Geological Hazards Mitigation (PVMBG) raised Mount Semeru’s volcanic activity status to Level III (Alert) on Nov 19, 2025.
PVMBG said the status escalation was based on intensified seismic activity, frequent eruptions accompanied by incandescent lava avalanches, and the potential for pyroclastic flows along rivers and valleys originating from the summit.
The centre had also advised the public to refrain from activities in the southeastern sector along Besuk Kobokan within a radius of 13 km from the summit.
Beyond that distance, residents are also advised to avoid activities within 500 metres of the riverbanks along Besuk Kobokan due to the potential expansion of pyroclastic flows and lava flows that could reach up to 17 km from the summit.
The public is further urged to avoid activities within a five-km radius of the crater or summit due to the risk of falling incandescent rocks. – BERNAMA
