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Report on Semeru (Indonesia) — 6 November-12 November 2024


Semeru

Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 6 November-12 November 2024
Managing Editor: Sally Sennert. Written by Zachary W. Hastings.

Please cite this report as:

Global Volcanism Program, 2024. Report on Semeru (Indonesia) (Hastings, Z W, and Sennert, S, eds.). Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 6 November-12 November 2024. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.

Weekly Report (6 November-12 November 2024)

Semeru

Indonesia

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

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


The Pusat Vulkanologi dan Mitigasi Bencana Geologi (PVMBG) reported that eruptive activity continued at Semeru during 6-12 November with several eruptive events each day recorded by the seismic network. Daily moderately dense to dense, white-and-gray ash plumes rose 200-1,000 m above the summit and drifted in multiple directions. Weather conditions sometimes prevented views of the summit. On 10 November the seismic network recorded a pyroclastic density current (PDC) signal that lasted almost eight minutes. The Alert Level remained at 2 (the second lowest level on a scale of 1-4). The public was warned to stay at least 5 km away from the summit in all directions, 13 km from the summit to the SE, 500 m from the banks of the Kobokan drainage as far as 17 km from the summit, and to avoid other drainages including the Bang, Kembar, and Sat, due to lahar, avalanche, and pyroclastic flow hazards.

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)