Rockfall at Semeru Volcano (Dec 15, 2023)

Some sort of gas explosion triggers a landslide at the top of Indonesia’s most active volcano. A minor strombolian eruption follows seconds later. The camera is situated about 8km southeast of the volcano. The view is looking northwest. The sound is live from the camera source. Semeru, the highest volcano on Java (3,676m 12,060ft), 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. This volcano is located within the Bromo Tengger Semeru-Arjuno, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve property. Thumbnail photo: Bromo East Java