Badan Nacional Penanggulangan Bencana (BNPB) reported that a more notable eruption occurred at Marapi (on Sumatra) on 27 March. An eruptive event at 0013 generated roaring and an ash plume that rose 1.5 km above the summit and drifted W, causing minor ashfall in several areas downwind including in the Tanah Datar (SE) and Agam (NW) regencies and in Bukittinggi City (13 km NW). Several flights were canceled, and the Minangkabau International Airport (50 km SSW) closed during 1021-1400, according to a news article. Pusat Vulkanologi dan Mitigasi Bencana Geologi (PVMBG) reported that eruptive events at 0849, 1122, and 2054 produced dense gray ash plumes that rose 1.5 km above the summit and drifted W. An event at 2157 generated a dense gray ash plume that rose 1 km above the summit and drifted W. The ash plumes were the highest recorded since the eruption began on 3 December 2023, when plumes rose as high as 3 km. White-and-gray ash plumes rose to 1 km and drifted SW and W on 28 March; they rose as high as 500 m and drifted NW, W, and SW on 29 March, 31 March, and 1 April. Plumes were not visible on 30 March or 2 April. The Alert Level remained at 3 (on a scale of 1-4), and the public was warned to stay 4.5 km away from the active 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.

Sources: Badan Nacional Penanggulangan Bencana (BNPB), Pusat Vulkanologi dan Mitigasi Bencana Geologi (PVMBG, also known as CVGHM), Tempo