Mount Semeru

Mount Semeru is a mountain located in East Java, Indonesia. It is the highest mountain on Java Island and is an active volcano.  Mount Semeru is a Stratovolcano, which means it is made of many layers of tephra, hardened lava, ash, and pumice.

Key Points

• It is a 12,060 feet tall mountain and is the highest volcano in Indonesia. Mount Semeru is located in a subduction zone, at the subduction of Indian – Australian tectonic plate over the Eurasian Plate.
• The mountain has been on the verge of eruption since 2017 and has started to erupt since May 2020.
• The hot ashes that erupted out of the volcano are recorded to have blown up to 3000 meters all along the slopes of the mountain.
• This has triggered panic among the villagers nearby calling in disaster response action from the Government.

People being evacuated as activity increases in Volcano

The volcanic activity in Mount Semeru is increasing now and looking at this, the Indonesian government has evacuated thousands of people living nearby.  The officials are still trying to evacuate around 550 people in the region.

Recent Volcanic Eruptions

Indonesia has seen many volcanic eruptions recently. On November 27, Mount Ile Lewotolok (volcano) erupted along with generating ash clouds up to a height of 500 m in the sky. Mount Ile Lewotolok is located in Lembata Island situated in the eastern province of Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. On November 30, a blast occurred in Mount Ile Lewotolok and ash clouds of 50000 ft in the sky were seen.

The authorities have also evacuated around 1800 people living near Mount Merapi volcano in another part of the island of Java. The Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation Center of Indonesia have raised an alert for Mount Merapi.

Mount Merapi is located on the border between the Special Region of Yogyakarta provinces and central Java in Indonesia.