April 12, 2026 | 12:55 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The volcanic activity of Mount Merapi in Indonesia has shown a significant escalation with a record of three hot cloud emissions on Sunday morning, April 12, 2026. Over the past week, there have been a total of eight hot cloud emissions from the volcano, located on the border of Yogyakarta and Central Java, and has been maintained at level III or Alert since November 2020.
The Geological Disaster Technology Research and Development Center (BPPTKG) reported that this increased activity has been observed amid the continuous rainfall at the peak of Merapi in early April. The head of BPPTKG, Agus Budi Santoso, detailed that the series of hot cloud emissions on Sunday morning began at 5:45 AM WIB (Western Indonesian Time) with a distance of 1,500 meters and lasting 166.4 seconds towards the upstream of Kali Boyong.
The second event followed at 7:41 AM WIB with an estimated emission distance of 1,400 meters lasting 132.1 seconds, and the third hot cloud was emitted at 8:21 AM WIB, reaching the furthest distance of 2,000 meters towards the upstream of Kali Boyong. "The status is still at Level III or Alert," said Agus.
The records in the past week show the consistency of Merapi's activity, starting on Tuesday, April 7, 2026, with one emission of hot clouds reaching 1,800 meters towards Kali Boyong. Then, the next day, followed by one emission reaching 1,100 meters towards the upstream of Kali Sat or Kali Putih.
The intensity then increased on Thursday, April 9, with two events reaching 1,700 meters towards Kali Boyong. Then on Saturday, April 11, there was another emission of hot clouds reaching 1,500 meters before three emissions occurred on Sunday morning.
Aside from the hot clouds, based on observations until Saturday at 24:00 WIB, a white crater smoke with thick intensity was observed at a height of 475 to 525 meters above the peak of Merapi. It was also recorded that there were 36 instances of lava avalanche towards the southwest with a maximum sliding distance of 2,000 meters.
Meanwhile, during the observation period from Sunday at 00:00 to 06:00 WIB, a crater smoke was observed at a height of 500 meters and one hot cloud emission, as well as nine instances of lava avalanche with a maximum sliding distance of 1,900 meters towards the southwest.
Currently, Agus explained, the potential danger of lava avalanches and hot clouds is in the southern-southwest sector, covering Kali Boyong River up to a distance of five kilometers, and Sungai Bedog, Krasak, and Bebeng Rivers up to seven kilometers. In the southeastern sector, the potential danger threatens the Woro River area up to a distance of 3 km and Gendol River up to 5 km, while a 3 km radius from the peak should be on alert for volcanic material projection in the event of an explosive eruption.
"The monitoring data indicates that magma supply is still ongoing, which can trigger hot cloud emissions within the potential danger zone," said Agus.
Read: Mount Merapi Erupts Twice, Sending Hot Clouds Southwest
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