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Volcanic hazards at Mount Semeru, East Java (Indonesia), with emphasis on lahars

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Abstract

Mt. Semeru, the highest mountain in Java (3,676 m), is one of the few persistently active composite volcanoes on Earth, with a plain supporting about 1 million people. We present the geology of the edifice, review its historical eruptive activity, and assess hazards posed by the current activity, highlighting the lahar threat. The composite andesite cone of Semeru results from the growth of two edifices: the Mahameru ‘old’ Semeru and the Seloko ‘young’ Semeru. On the SE flank of the summit cone, a N130-trending scar, branched on the active Jonggring-Seloko vent, is the current pathway for rockslides and pyroclastic flows produced by dome growth. The eruptive activity, recorded since 1818, shows three styles: (1) The persistent vulcanian and phreatomagmatic regime consists of short-lived eruption columns several times a day; (2) increase in activity every 5 to 7 years produces several kilometer-high eruption columns, ballistic bombs and thick tephra fall around the vent, and ash fall 40 km downwind. Dome extrusion in the vent and subsequent collapses produce block-and-ash flows that travel toward the SE as far as 11 km from the summit; and (3) flank lava flows erupted on the lower SE and E flanks in 1895 and in 1941–1942. Pyroclastic flows recur every 5 years on average while large-scale lahars exceeding 5 million m3 each have occurred at least five times since 1884. Lumajang, a city home to 85,000 people located 35 km E of the summit, was devastated by lahars in 1909. In 2000, the catchment of the Curah Lengkong River on the ESE flank shows an annual sediment yield of 2.7 × 105 m3 km−2 and a denudation rate of 4 105 t km−2 yr−1, comparable with values reported at other active composite cones in wet environment. Unlike catchments affected by high magnitude eruptions, sediment yield at Mt. Semeru, however, does not decline drastically within the first post-eruption years. This is due to the daily supply of pyroclastic debris shed over the summit cone, which is remobilised by runoff during the rainy season. Three hazard-prone areas are delineated at Mt. Semeru: (1) a triangle-shaped area open toward the SE has been frequently swept by dome-collapse avalanches and pyroclastic flows; (2) the S and SE valleys convey tens of rain-triggered lahars each year within a distance of 20 km toward the ring plain; (3) valleys 25 km S, SE, and the ring plain 35 km E toward Lumajang can be affected by debris avalanches and debris flows if the steep-sided summit cone fails.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the former ‘Coordination de la Recherche Volcanologique’ (OPGC) and the Laboratoire Magmas et Volcans (UMR 6524-CNRS) in Clermont-Ferrand, by the Laboratoire de géographie physique (UMR 8591-CNRS) in Meudon, and by the grant No.15404017 in aid of Japan Society of the Promotion of Science. We thank the Semeru Volcano Observatory of the Geological Institute of Indonesia in Gunung Sawur, Mr. Dodi and Darmono of the Mt. Semeru Project in Lumajang, and, as well as the people of the Curah Lengkong village and L. Thouret for field assistance. Unpublished research reports from BSc. students E. Keim, M. Morelière, J. Declercq, T. Boyer, and B. Caron, have provided useful data to our study. Reviews by J.L. Macías and G. Carrasco-Nuñez have been appreciated. This is contribution No.5 of the ACI research programme ‘Aléas et changements globaux’ funded by INSU-CNRS.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Département de géologie, Laboratoire Magmas et Volcans UMR 6524 CNRS, OPGC et IRD, université Blaise Pascal, 5 rue Kessler, 63038, Clermont-Ferrand cedex, France

    Jean-Claude Thouret

  2. Laboratoire de Géographie physique, UMR 8591 CNRS et université Paris 1—Sorbonne, 1 place Aristide Briand, 92190, Meudon, France

    Franck Lavigne

  3. Disaster Prevention Research Institute, Kyoto University, Gokasho Uji, Kyoto, 611-0011, Japan

    Hiroshi Suwa

  4. Balai Sabo, Sopalan, Maguwoharjo, Depok, Sleman, Yogyakarta, Java, Indonesia

    Bambang Sukatja

  5. Directorate of Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation, 55 Jalan Diponegoro, Bandung, Java, Indonesia

    Surono

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  1. Jean-Claude Thouret
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  2. Franck Lavigne
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Correspondence to Jean-Claude Thouret.

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Thouret, JC., Lavigne, F., Suwa, H. et al. Volcanic hazards at Mount Semeru, East Java (Indonesia), with emphasis on lahars. Bull Volcanol 70, 221–244 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00445-007-0133-6

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