JAKARTA: Indonesia's Mount Semeru volcano erupted earlier today, spewing ash plumes up to 600 metres in the air above the crater.
The ash plume was seen to be grey with thick intensity to the north, according to the nation's Centre for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation, PVMBG.
At 7.58am local time, PVMBG recorded the eruption on a seismograph. It had a maximum amplitude of 22 millimetres and lasted for 105 seconds.
Residents in the vicinity were urged to avoid the five-kilometre radius around the mountain and any activities in the southeast part of Besuk Kobokan, which is 13km from the peak.
In December last year, authorities evacuated nearly 2,000 people living near Mount Semeru after the mountain spewed a cloud of ash 15 kilometres into the sky.
At least 69 people were killed, 104 injured and five others remain missing when the highest mountain on the island of Java erupted on Dec 4, 2021.
The 3,676-metre-high Mount Semeru's threat level is still at alert status amid continuous activities of the volcano. – Bernama
