PVMBG reported that eruptive activity at Marapi (on Sumatra) was ongoing during 13-19 December, though foggy and raining weather conditions often prevented visual observations of the summit. White-and-gray ash plumes that were sometimes dense rose 400-600 m and drifted S, SW, NW, and NE during 13-15 and 18 December. The Alert Level remained at 2 (on a scale of 1-4), and the public was warned to stay 3 km away from the summit crater.

Geological Summary. Gunung Marapi, not to be confused with the better-known Merapi volcano on Java, is Sumatra's most active volcano. This massive complex stratovolcano rises 2,000 m above the Bukittinggi Plain in the Padang Highlands. A broad summit contains multiple partially overlapping summit craters constructed within the small 1.4-km-wide Bancah caldera. The summit craters are located along an ENE-WSW line, with volcanism migrating to the west. More than 50 eruptions, typically consisting of small-to-moderate explosive activity, have been recorded since the end of the 18th century; no lava flows outside the summit craters have been reported in historical time.

Source: Pusat Vulkanologi dan Mitigasi Bencana Geologi (PVMBG, also known as CVGHM)