Temperatures in Kawah Baru, a small vent on the W side of the summit crater, active during the 1896 eruption, rose steadily from 90 to 140°C in the two weeks prior to 9 December. No changes have been detected in the volcano's continuing low-level background seismicity.

Geological Summary. Gunung Tangkuban Parahu is a broad stratovolcano overlooking Indonesia's former capital city of Bandung. The volcano was constructed within the 6 x 8 km Pleistocene Sunda caldera, which formed about 190,000 years ago. The volcano's low profile is the subject of legends referring to the mountain of the "upturned boat." The Sunda caldera rim forms a prominent ridge on the western side; elsewhere the rim is largely buried by deposits of the current volcano. The dominantly small phreatic eruptions recorded since the 19th century have originated from several nested craters within an elliptical 1 x 1.5 km summit depression.

Information Contacts: T. Casadevall and L. Pardyanto, VSI.