Indonesia is afraid of a new volcanic eruption on Mount Semeru New Volcanoes

Authorities have warned that Mount Semeru could erupt again after a eruption this month left 48 dead.

Indonesian authorities have raised the alert level for the highest volcano on the island of Java, and have warned that Mount Semeru could erupt again. sudden eruption 48 people were killed earlier this month.

The Indonesian Geological Survey said on Saturday it was stepping up activity that could cause lava flow and sour gas, similar to the December 4 incident.

This eruption was preceded by heavy monsoon rains, which partially reduced the 3,676-meter (12,060-foot) mountain lava dome.

Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Arifin Tasrif said new areas could be affected in the event of another eruption.

About 8 million cubic meters (283 million cubic feet) of volcanic crater sand was being squeezed by the Besuk Kobokan River, which is on its way to the lava flow.

“As a result, another eruption would block the flow and create new lava flows that spread to the surrounding area,” Tasrif said, adding that the government has established a new risk map and asked people to obey.

The alert level rose to the second highest.

Andiani, head of the Indonesian Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation, said residents living on the fertile slopes of Semeru are advised to be 13 kilometers (8 miles) from the mouth of the crater.

Besuk also stopped tourism and mining activities in the Koboka watershed.

The search and rescue operations it ended on Friday with 36 people still missing. More than 100 people were injured, 22 of them with severe burns.

Abdul Muhari, a spokesman for the National Disaster Relief Agency, said more than 5,200 homes and buildings had been damaged.

After visiting the area last week, President Joko Widodo pledged to rebuild infrastructure, including the main bridge linking the worst-hit town of Lumajang with other cities, and removing about 2,970 homes from the danger zone.

Semeru, also known as Mahameru, has exploded many times in the last 200 years.

However, as in many of Indonesia’s 129 controlled volcanoes, tens of thousands of people live on its fertile slopes. It last exploded in January, with no deaths.

Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 270 million people, is experiencing earthquakes and volcanic activity in the Pacific “Ring of Fire” because it is located in a series of horseshoe-shaped fault lines.