"The BNPB team will depart from Jakarta for West Halmahera tonight," head of the BNPB's Disaster Data, Information, and Communication Center, Abdul Muhari, informed at a press conference on Wednesday.
He said that the team will assist the West Halmahera district government in carrying out efforts related to emergency response and anticipation of the post effects of the Mount Ibu eruption.
The team's responsibility will include preparing evacuation facilities and transportation; mapping vulnerable zones and safe zones for the community; and ensuring the readiness of early warning equipment for potential cold lava floods in rivers from Mount Ibu crater, Muhari added.
"Every preparation will be made with the involvement of all available resources to reduce the disaster impact on the community," he said.
Mount Ibu's status was raised to the highest or Level IV on Wednesday afternoon by the Geological Agency of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM).
The status was upgraded following a significant increase in volcanic activity detected at Mount Ibu by the agency's team from January 1–14, 2025.
Officers at the Mount Ibu observation post in Gam Ici village, West Halmahera, recorded an average of 70 eruptions per day.
In the January 2025 period, the height of the eruption column fluctuated, with signs of an increase in the height of the eruption column to a maximum of 4 kilometers from the peak.
During this period, there were 748 eruption earthquakes, 70 avalanche earthquakes, 1,643 gust earthquakes, 6,976 shallow volcanic earthquakes, 346 deep volcanic earthquakes, and 60 local tectonic earthquakes, with a dominant amplitude of 3 millimeters.
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Translator: M. Riezko Bima, Resinta Sulistiyandari
Editor: Aditya Eko Sigit Wicaksono
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