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Report on Ibu (Indonesia) — 25 March-31 March 2020


Ibu

Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 25 March-31 March 2020
Managing Editor: Sally Sennert.

Please cite this report as:

Global Volcanism Program, 2020. Report on Ibu (Indonesia) (Sennert, S, ed.). Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 25 March-31 March 2020. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.

Weekly Report (25 March-31 March 2020)

Ibu

Indonesia

1.488°N, 127.63°E; summit elev. 1325 m

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


PVMBG reported that at 1730 on 26 March, at 0642 on 28 March, and at 0855 on 29 March gray ash plumes rose 600 m above Ibu’s summit and drifted W and N. The Darwin VAAC stated that on 30 March an ash plume rose to 2.1 km (7,000 ft) a.s.l. and drifted NE based on satellite images and weather models. The Alert Level remained at 2 (on a scale of 1-4), and the public was warned to stay at least 2 km away from the active crater, and 3.5 km away on the N side.

Geological Summary. The truncated summit of Gunung Ibu stratovolcano along the NW coast of Halmahera Island has large nested summit craters. The inner crater, 1 km wide and 400 m deep, has contained several small crater lakes. The 1.2-km-wide outer crater is breached on the N, creating a steep-walled valley. A large cone grew ENE of the summit, and a smaller one to the WSW has fed a lava flow down the W flank. A group of maars is located below the N and W flanks. The first observed and recorded eruption was a small explosion from the summit crater in 1911. Eruptive activity began again in December 1998, producing a lava dome that eventually covered much of the floor of the inner summit crater along with ongoing explosive ash emissions.

Sources: Pusat Vulkanologi dan Mitigasi Bencana Geologi (PVMBG, also known as CVGHM), Darwin Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre (VAAC)