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BROMo VOLCANO (Tengger Caldera), Indonesia

Typical strombolian eruption of Stromboli volcano

Tengger caldera with Bromo volcano (middle left) and smoking Semeru volcano in the background.

View into Bromo volcano's crater vent.

Location of Bromo volcano (volcano number: 0603-31, 7.942°S, 112.950°E,
summit elev. 2,329 m)
(Map taken from BBC news)
 

- Activity updates -


Short activity updates

11 June 2004 (updated 17 Sept. 2004):

Apparently without much warning (or no detected precursors), the well-known Bromo volcano, visited each day by many tourists, erupted suddenly in what appears a small vulcanian eruption (sudden explosion caused by overpressured gas and magma trapped beneath a plug in the vent) on 8 June,15.15pm Java time. Unfortunately, the eruption killed two people and injured several ones, probably all of them being surprised by the sudden explosion while visiting the crater or the area nearby.
The eruption lasted for around 30 minutes only. No further activity took place at Bromo after that event. Source: VolcanoDiscovery Indonesia.

 

Press photos of Mount Bromo's eruption published on  June 10, 2004. REUTERS/Darren Whiteside

 

Eruption of Bromo on the early afternoon of 8 June. Photos taken by D. Wijayanto. (photos@decadevolcano.net)

If additional information and photos become available, they will be published on this website. In the meanwhile, this is the report summarized by the GVP/USGS Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 2-8 June 2004:

"On 8 June, the Bromo vent of Tengger Caldera erupted, producing a gas-and-ash plume that rose ~3 km above the summit and caused light tephra-fall in the surrounding area. Two people were killed and at least seven injured by ballistics during the eruption. No evacuations have been ordered.

Background: The 16-km-wide Tengger caldera is located at the northern end of a volcanic massif extending from Semeru volcano. The massive Tengger volcanic complex  dates back to about 820,000 years ago and consists of five overlapping stratovolcanoes, each truncated by a caldera. Lava domes, pyroclastic cones, and a maar occupy the flanks of the massif. The Ngadisari caldera at the NE end of the complex formed about 150,000 years ago and is now drained through the Sapikerep Valley. The most recent of the Tengger calderas is the 9 x 10 km wide Sandsea Caldera at the SW end of the complex, which formed incrementally during the late Pleistocene and early Holocene. An overlapping cluster of post-caldera cones was constructed on the floor of the Sandsea Caldera within the last several thousand years. The youngest of these is Bromo, one of Java's most active and most frequently visited volcanoes.


Sources:
BBC http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3785793.stm,
The Jakarta Post http://www.thejakartapost.com/detaillatestnews.asp?fileid=20040608185345&irec=0,
Agence France-Presse http://travel.discovery.com/news/afp/20040607/volcano.html,
Darwin VAAC http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/VAAC/OTH/AU/messages.html,
Tengger Caldera information from the Global Volcanism Program
http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/volcano.cfm?vnum=0603-31=