“An eruption was recorded on Mount Marapi on Wednesday at 7:23 a.m. local time, with ash columns reaching 1,600 meters above its summit, or 4,491 meters above sea level,” Ahmad Rifandi, an officer at the Marapi Observation Post, noted in a statement cited in Bukittinggi, West Sumatra.
He noted that the thick ash columns appeared white to gray and drifted southeast.
“The eruption was detected on the seismograph with a maximum amplitude of 30.5 mm and lasted for one minute and 18 seconds,” Rifandi remarked.
Mount Marapi’s danger status remains at level II (alert), prompting residents to stay outside a three-kilometer radius around the crater.
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Residents of Ampe Angkek Sub-district, Agam, reported hearing a loud blast followed by tremors that shook their homes.
“The tremors were strong enough to rattle my windows—it felt like an earthquake. Hopefully, Mount Marapi will return to normal soon,” Widia, 38, a local resident, stated.
Firdaus, head of Bukik Batabuah Village, remarked that the eruption serves as a reminder that humans have no control over nature.
“This is the power of nature. People can only predict what might happen but can never be completely certain,” he said, urging residents to remain vigilant as natural disasters can occur anytime.
Earlier, the Marapi Observation Post reported that the Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation (PVMBG), under the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, had prioritized several volcanoes, including Marapi, for monitoring equipment modernization this year.
An officer at the observation post, Teguh Purnomo, stated that the central government plans to deliver new seismographs, tiltmeters, and GPS equipment.
“This modernization is aimed at improving the accuracy of data on Mount Marapi’s activity,” he noted in Bukittinggi on July 20.
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Translator: Altas M, Tegar Nurfitra
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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