Logo link to homepage

Report on Raung (Indonesia) — June 1997


Raung

Bulletin of the Global Volcanism Network, vol. 22, no. 6 (June 1997)
Managing Editor: Richard Wunderman.

Raung (Indonesia) Aviators report April ash plume to 5 km and June "smoke" plume to 6 km altitude

Please cite this report as:

Global Volcanism Program, 1997. Report on Raung (Indonesia) (Wunderman, R., ed.). Bulletin of the Global Volcanism Network, 22:6. Smithsonian Institution. https://doi.org/10.5479/si.GVP.BGVN199706-263340



Raung

Indonesia

8.119°S, 114.056°E; summit elev. 3260 m

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


On 10 April an ash cloud was reported drifting to the E at 5 km altitude. The Bureau of Meteorology had learned from the Volcanological Survey of Indonesia that the volcano had been erupting continuously, but ash was ejected only ~ 150 m above the crater. On 1 June a Qantas pilot described "smoke" at 6.1 km, drifting W. Similar reports were received on 18 and 22 June, but heavy clouds hampered the detection of ash in satellite imagery.

Geological Summary. Raung, one of Java's most active volcanoes, is a massive stratovolcano in easternmost Java that was constructed SW of the rim of Ijen caldera. The unvegetated summit is truncated by a dramatic steep-walled, 2-km-wide caldera that has been the site of frequent historical eruptions. A prehistoric collapse of Gunung Gadung on the W flank produced a large debris avalanche that traveled 79 km, reaching nearly to the Indian Ocean. Raung contains several centers constructed along a NE-SW line, with Gunung Suket and Gunung Gadung stratovolcanoes being located to the NE and W, respectively.

Information Contacts: Bureau of Meteorology, Northern Territory Regional Office, P.O. Box 735, Darwin NT 0801, Australia.