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Report on Semeru (Indonesia) — 18 November-24 November 2020


Semeru

Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 18 November-24 November 2020
Managing Editor: Sally Sennert.

Please cite this report as:

Global Volcanism Program, 2020. Report on Semeru (Indonesia) (Sennert, S, ed.). Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 18 November-24 November 2020. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.

Weekly Report (18 November-24 November 2020)

Semeru

Indonesia

8.108°S, 112.922°E; summit elev. 3657 m

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


PVMBG reported that the eruption at Semeru continued during 17-24 November, though weather conditions sometimes prevented visual confirmation. Dense white-to-gray plumes rose up to 300 m above the summit. Crater incandescence was visible at night during 19-20 November and 11 incandescent avalanches traveled 500-1,500 m down the Kembar and Kobokan drainages on the S flank. Two eruptive events produced gray ash plumes that rose 100-200 m above the summit and drifted SW during 23-24 November. The Alert Level remained at 2 (on a scale of 1-4), with a general exclusion zone of 1 km and extensions to 4 km in the SSE sector.

Geological Summary. Semeru, the highest volcano on Java, and one of its most active, lies at the southern end of a volcanic massif extending north to the Tengger caldera. The steep-sided volcano, also referred to as Mahameru (Great Mountain), rises above coastal plains to the south. Gunung Semeru was constructed south of the overlapping Ajek-ajek and Jambangan calderas. A line of lake-filled maars was constructed along a N-S trend cutting through the summit, and cinder cones and lava domes occupy the eastern and NE flanks. Summit topography is complicated by the shifting of craters from NW to SE. Frequent 19th and 20th century eruptions were dominated by small-to-moderate explosions from the summit crater, with occasional lava flows and larger explosive eruptions accompanied by pyroclastic flows that have reached the lower flanks of the volcano.

Source: Pusat Vulkanologi dan Mitigasi Bencana Geologi (PVMBG, also known as CVGHM)