Ibu volcano on Halmahera island started erupting on 31 December 1998. A plume rose to 1,000 m above the summit as a result of mild explosions. On 2 January, personnel from the Volcanological Survey of Indonesia (VSI) who went to the island to take COSPEC measurements observed an eruption. Ashes were deposited to ~3 mm depth in surrounding villages. On 5 January another eruption lasted for 60 minutes. Local people reported that a lava flow reached the lower lip of the crater on 16 January.

Geological Summary. The truncated summit of Gunung Ibu stratovolcano along the NW coast of Halmahera Island has large nested summit craters. The inner crater, 1 km wide and 400 m deep, has contained several small crater lakes. The 1.2-km-wide outer crater is breached on the N, creating a steep-walled valley. A large cone grew ENE of the summit, and a smaller one to the WSW has fed a lava flow down the W flank. A group of maars is located below the N and W flanks. The first observed and recorded eruption was a small explosion from the summit crater in 1911. Eruptive activity began again in December 1998, producing a lava dome that eventually covered much of the floor of the inner summit crater along with ongoing explosive ash emissions.

Information Contacts: R. Sukhyar and Dali Ahmad Volcanological Survey of Indonesia (VSI), Jalan Diponegoro No.57, Bandung 40122, Indonesia (URL: http://www.vsi.esdm.go.id/).