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Mount Semeru
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Mount Semeru Mount Bromo in the foreground emits white smoke, with taller Mount Semeru in the background releasing a plume; both volcanoes rise above green foliage in Java, Indonesia. Tengger caldera and Mount Semeru Mount Semeru
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Also called:
Semeru, Gunung Semeru, Mahameru, or Semeru Volcano
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Mount Semeru
Mount Semeru The earliest known record of an observed eruption of Mount Semeru dates back to 1818, but geologists note that the volcano has erupted more than 60 times over the most recent 10,000 years. Some of these eruptive periods have lasted years.

Mount Semeru

volcano, Java, Indonesia
Also known as: Gunung Semeru, Mahameru, Semeru, Semeru Volcano(Show More)
Written by
John P. Rafferty
John P. Rafferty writes about Earth processes and the environment. He serves currently as the editor of Earth and life sciences, covering climatology, geology, zoology, and other topics that relate to...
John P. Rafferty
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Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
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•History
Mounts Bromo and Semeru
Mounts Bromo and SemeruMount Bromo (foreground) and Mount Semeru (background), two active volcanoes in eastern Java, Indonesia.

Mount Semeru, active stratovolcano in eastern Java, Indonesia. Its summit reaches 12,060 feet (3,676 meters) above sea level, making it both the highest volcano and the highest mountain on the island. Semeru is one of the most active volcanoes in the world, having erupted nearly continuously, sometimes every 20–30 minutes, since 1967. The volcano is part of a massif that includes the Tengger caldera (a volcanic complex comprising Mount Bromo and several other volcanoes).

Tengger caldera and Mount Semeru
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Tengger caldera and Mount SemeruA large mastiff containing the Tengger caldera appears in the foreground with Mount Semeru, which has erupted nearly continuously since 1967, appears in the distance.
Mount Semeru
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Mount SemeruSemeru, the highest mountain on the island of Java in Indonesia and one of the most active volcanoes in the world.

Semeru has a long eruptive history. The earliest known record of an observed eruption dates back to 1818, but geologists note that the volcano has erupted more than 60 times over the most recent 10,000 years, and several episodes have resulted in significant loss of life from lahars (mudflows of volcanic material) and pyroclastic flows (ground-hugging clouds of hot solids and gases that travel rapidly downslope). The eruptions of September 1909 (221 killed), August 1976 (119 killed), and May 1981 (372 killed) were particularly deadly. Although Mount Semeru’s volcanic activity during the early 21st century has produced relatively few casualties, a December 2021 eruption killed dozens and damaged thousands of homes.

John P. Rafferty
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