PVMBG reported that eruptive activity at Marapi (on Sumatra) was ongoing during 27 December 2023-2 January 2024, though fog and rain occasionally prevented visual observations of the summit. At 1205 on 27 December a dense gray ash plume rose 1.5 km above the summit and drifted SW and W. Ash plumes rose 500-700 m above the summit and drifted S, SW, and W during 31 December 2023-1 January 2024. 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)