The Pusat Vulkanologi dan Mitigasi Bencana Geologi (PVMBG) reported that eruptive activity at Marapi (on Sumatra) continued during 17-23 September. Almost daily white steam-and-gas plumes rose as high as 200 m above the crater rim and drifted in multiple directions. Eruptive events were recorded on 17, 22, and 23 September, but weather conditions prevented visual confirmation. Dense gray ash plumes rose 1 km above the summit and drifted S and SW during 20-21 September. The Alert Level remained at 2 (on a scale of 1-4) and the public was warned to stay 3 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.

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