Indonesia’s Mount Semeru erupts 3 times, sends ash 1,000 meters above summit - Anadolu Ajansı

Indonesia’s Mount Semeru erupted three times early Monday, sending volcanic ash as high as 1,000 meters (3,280 feet) above its summit, the country’s disaster management agency said.

The ash columns reached approximately 500 m, 800 m and 1,000 m above the summit, respectively, Berton Panjaitan, a spokesperson for Indonesia’s National Disaster Mitigation Agency, told Anadolu.

Semeru, the highest mountain on Java island at 3,676 meters (12,060 feet), remains at Level III, the second-highest category in Indonesia’s four-tier volcanic warning system.

It is currently one of five volcanoes across Indonesia under Level III status as authorities continue to monitor volcanic activity.

Mount Semeru is in East Java, in the western part of the Indonesian archipelago.

Indonesia, an archipelagic nation of more than 17,000 islands, sits along the seismically active Pacific “Ring of Fire” and is home to more than 120 active volcanoes.

Semeru is one of the country’s most active volcanoes and has experienced frequent eruptions in recent years.