Global Volcanism Program

26 September-2 October 2012

According to news articles, an eruption from Marapi on 26 September produced an ash plume that rose 1.5 km above the crater.

Sources: Big Pond News

Available Weekly Reports

26 September 2012 Back to Top

According to news articles, an eruption from Marapi on 26 September produced an ash plume that rose 1.5 km above the crater.

Sources: Big Pond News

16 May 2012 Back to Top

According to a news article, an approximately 10-minute-long eruption from Marapi produced an ash plume that rose 600 m on 18 May. The article noted that the Alert Level remained at 2 (on a scale of 1-4).

Sources: MI News 26

7 March 2012 Back to Top

According to a news article from 5 March, several eruptions from Marapi produced ash plumes during the previous week. An ash plume rose 1 km above the crater on 4 March and drifted 10 km S. A representative from CVGHM noted that the Alert Level remained at 2 (on a scale of 1-4).

Sources: BNO News

12 October 2011 Back to Top

Based on information from CVGHM, the Darwin VAAC reported that on 12 October an eruption from Marapi produced an ash plume that rose to an altitude of 3 km (10,000 ft) a.s.l. and drifted E.

Sources: Darwin Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre (VAAC)

5 October 2011 Back to Top

Based on a pilot report, the Darwin VAAC reported that on 11 October an ash plume from Marapi rose to an altitude of 3.7 km (12,000 ft) a.s.l. Ash was not identified in satellite imagery.

Sources: Darwin Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre (VAAC)

10 August 2011 Back to Top

According to a news article, two eruptions from Marapi occurred on 9 August. The article also noted that the Alert Level remained at 2 (on a scale of 1-4).

Sources: Metro TV News

27 July 2011 Back to Top

CVGHM reported increased seismicity from Marapi during 21 June-3 August. Observers noted that during June and July white plumes rose 15-75 m above the summit craters. On 1 August white plumes rose 15 m above the main crater; fog prevented observations the next day. On 3 August dense gray plumes rose 300-1,000 m above the crater on eight occasions. That same day CVGHM raised the Alert Level to 2 (on a scale of 1-4). Visitors and residents were prohibited from going within a 3-km radius of the summit.

Sources: Center of Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation (CVGHM)

20 July 2005 Back to Top

DVGHM raised the Alert Level at Marapi from 1 to 2 on 18 July after the number of earthquakes increased dramatically during 8-14 July. During this period, the volcano's seismic network recorded 112 deep volcanic earthquakes. Normally, an average of 7 deep volcanic earthquakes occur in 1 week. No significant activity changes were seen at the volcano; gas emissions rose ~50 m above the summit (9,650 ft a.s.l.) and fumarole temperatures were normal.

Sources: Center of Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation (CVGHM)

4 August 2004 Back to Top

Increased volcanic activity at Marapi during early August led DVGHM to raise the Alert Level to 2 from 1 (on a scale of 1-4) on 5 August. Ash explosions rose 500-1,000 m above the summit and no seismic data were available. Visitors and villagers in the Tanah Datar and Padang Panjang districts were advised not to climb the volcano.

Sources: Center of Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation (CVGHM)

2 May 2001 Back to Top

VSI reported that volcanic activity continued at Marapi at a decreased level in comparison to the previous week. Thirty explosions were observed and an ash plume rose 3 km above the summit. Tephra fell up to 4 km in radius from the crater. Marapi remained at Alert Level 2 (on a scale of 1-4).

Sources: Center of Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation (CVGHM)

25 April 2001 Back to Top

VSI reported that the Marapi eruption at 0814 on 16 April produced a cauliflower-shaped black ash plume that rose 2 km above the summit. Ash, lapilli, and volcanic bombs were ejected during the eruption and fell within the crater. In addition, ash fell in many villages on the S and SW flanks of the volcano. Within 1-4 km from the summit the thickness of the ash deposits was between 2 and 3 cm. Until 18 April approximately 150 smaller explosions continuously occurred. The 16 April eruption was preceded by shallow volcanic earthquakes that began on 7 April and by continuous volcanic tremor recorded on 9 April. Small eruptions occurred at 1283 and 1600 on 13 April. VSI had increased the Alert Level at Marapi from 1 to 2 following the minor activity that began on 13 April.

Sources: Center of Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation (CVGHM)

18 April 2001 Back to Top

Based on information from VSI, the Darwin VAAC reported that after increased volcanic activity occurred over the preceding two weeks VSI raised the Alert Level at Marapi from 1 to 2. The increased activity included an eruption on 16 April that sent an ash cloud up to 2 km above the summit. In addition, an eruption on about 23 April produced an ash cloud that rose up to ~6 km a.s.l. and drifted to the E.

Sources: Center of Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation (CVGHM) , Darwin Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre (VAAC)

Summary of eruption dates and Volcanic Explosivity Indices (VEI).

Start Date	Stop Date	Eruption Certainty	VEI	Evidence	Activity Area or Unit
2004 Aug 5	2004 Aug 5 (?)	Confirmed	2	Historical
2001 Apr 13	2001 Jun 5	Confirmed	2	Historical	Verbeek Crater
2000 Mar 11	2000 Apr 3 (in or after)	Confirmed	2	Historical
1999 Apr (in or before)	1999 Sep (in or after)	Confirmed	2	Historical
1987 Jan 15	1994 (continuing)	Confirmed	2	Historical	Verbeek Crater
1984 Nov 15	1984 Nov 15	Confirmed	1	Historical	Kepundan Tuo, Kepundan B
1983	Unknown	Confirmed	1	Historical	Kepundan Tuo and Kepundan Verbeek
1982 Dec	1982 Dec	Confirmed	1	Historical
1982 Mar 10 (in or before)	1982 May	Confirmed	1	Historical
1980 Mar 29	Unknown	Confirmed	1	Historical
1975 Jan	1979 Sep 11	Confirmed	2	Historical	Verbeek Crater, B and C Craters
1973 Jul 24	1973 Jul 24	Confirmed	2	Historical	Verbeek Crater
1970 Jul 26 ± 5 days	1971 Aug 20	Confirmed	2	Historical	Bungo, Bongsu, Tuo, B and C Craters
[ 1968 Dec ]	[ 1968 Dec ]	Uncertain	1		Craters B and C
1967 Apr	1967 Jul	Confirmed	1	Historical	Crater C, Bungsu Crater
1966 Mar	1966 Jun	Confirmed	1	Historical	B and C Craters, Kebun Bungo
1958 Oct 17	1958 Oct 25	Confirmed	1	Historical
1958 Jun 23	1958 Jun 23 (?)	Confirmed	1	Historical
1954 Aug	1957 Dec (in or after)	Confirmed	2	Historical	Kepundan Bongsu, B and C Craters
1950 Sep 27	1952 Jun 14	Confirmed	2	Historical	Kepundan Bongsu, Kuniang, Jinggo
1949 Oct 15 ± 5 days	1949 Oct 22 ± 5 days	Confirmed	2	Historical
1949 Apr 29	1949 Apr 30	Confirmed	2	Historical	Kepundan Bongsu
1943 ± 5 years	Unknown	Confirmed		Historical	Kepundan Kuniang, Kepundan Jinggo
1932	Unknown	Confirmed	2	Historical
1930 Apr 9 (in or before)	1930 Dec 7	Confirmed	0	Historical
1929 Jun 22	1929 Jun 22	Confirmed	2	Historical	Kepundan Bongsu
1927 Feb 5	1927 Aug 3	Confirmed	2	Historical	Kepundan Bongsu
1925 Apr (?)	Unknown	Confirmed	0	Historical
1919 Feb 28	1919 Mar 1	Confirmed	2	Historical
1918 Aug 15 ± 5 days	1918 Aug 15 ± 5 days	Confirmed	2	Historical
1918 Mar 8	1918 Mar 10	Confirmed	2	Historical
1917 Jun 16	1917 Sep 16	Confirmed	2	Historical
1916 May 5	1916 Jul 7	Confirmed	1	Historical
1915 Dec	Unknown	Confirmed	2	Historical
1914 Jul 1	Unknown	Confirmed	2	Historical
1913 Jun 23	1913 Jul 31	Confirmed	2	Historical
1911 Nov 2	Unknown	Confirmed	2	Historical
1910	Unknown	Confirmed	2	Historical
1907 Dec 17	1908 Sep	Confirmed	2	Historical
1905 Nov 1	Unknown	Confirmed	2	Historical
1904 Apr 18	1904 Apr 18	Confirmed	1	Historical
1889 Mar 27	1889 Apr 17 (?)	Confirmed	2	Historical
1888 Feb 19	1888 Mar 19	Confirmed	2	Historical
1886 Mar 31	1886 May 3	Confirmed	2	Historical
1885 Nov 12	Unknown	Confirmed	2	Historical
1883 Dec	1883 Dec	Confirmed	1	Historical
1883 Jun 25	1883 Aug 27	Confirmed	1	Historical
[ 1878 Dec ]	[ Unknown ]	Uncertain	2
1876 Aug	1877 Jun	Confirmed	2	Historical
1876 Apr 4	Unknown	Confirmed	2	Historical
1871 Sep 24	Unknown	Confirmed	2	Historical
1871 Apr 24	Unknown	Confirmed	2	Historical
1863 May 23	Unknown	Confirmed	2	Historical
1861 Apr	Unknown	Confirmed	2	Historical
1855 Oct 2	1856 Jan	Confirmed	2	Historical
1854 Aug 29 (in or after)	Unknown	Confirmed	2	Historical
1845 Nov 16	1845 Nov 18	Confirmed	2	Historical
1833	1834	Confirmed	2	Historical
1822 Jul 23	1822 Jul 31	Confirmed	2	Historical
1807	Unknown	Confirmed	2	Historical
1770	Unknown	Confirmed	2	Historical

Gunung Marapi, not to be confused with the better-known Merapi volcano on Java, is Sumatra's most active volcano. Marapi is a massive complex stratovolcano that rises 2000 m above the Bukittinggi plain in Sumatra's Padang Highlands. A broad summit contains multiple partially overlapping summit craters constructed within the small 1.4-km-wide Bancah caldera. The summit craters are located along an ENE-WSW line, with volcanism migrating to the west. More than 50 eruptions, typically consisting of small-to-moderate explosive activity, have been recorded since the end of the 18th century; no lava flows outside the summit craters have been reported in historical time.