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Report on Semeru (Indonesia) — July 1994


Semeru

Bulletin of the Global Volcanism Network, vol. 19, no. 7 (July 1994)
Managing Editor: Richard Wunderman.

Semeru (Indonesia) Small ash eruptions to 500 m above the summit

Please cite this report as:

Global Volcanism Program, 1994. Report on Semeru (Indonesia) (Wunderman, R., ed.). Bulletin of the Global Volcanism Network, 19:7. Smithsonian Institution. https://doi.org/10.5479/si.GVP.BGVN199407-263300



Semeru

Indonesia

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

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


Eruptive activity on 3 February 1994 produced ashfalls, lava avalanches, and pyroclastic flows, destroying a village and killing 6 people (19:01). Total volume of the pyroclastic-flow deposits was about 6 million m3.

During 5-14 August observations, visual and seismic activity . . . were normal. The daily number of explosion earthquakes fluctuated between 40 and 100 events, and volcanic tremor was occasionally recorded with a maximum amplitude of 4 mm. Ash eruptions generated clouds up to 500 m above the summit. There were no pyroclastic flows or lava avalanches.

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.

Information Contacts: VSI.