Volcano Live

West Java, Indonesia

7.25 S, 108.05 E
summit elevation 2168 m
stratovolcano

Galunggung Volcano is located in West Java, Indonesia, about 100 km SE of Bandung. The volcano is part of the Quaternary Sunda arc (Sumatra, Java, Bali), which has resulted from the subduction of the Indian
oceanic plate beneath the Eurasian plate.

An early eruption at Galunggung destroyed the southeastern flank of the
volcano and produced a large debris flow. Typically quiescent periods at the volcano last for several decades followed by explosive eruptions which last hours to days. Eruptions usually begin with pyroclastic flow, lahars and are followed extrusion of a lava dome several days to years later.

1982-83 Eruptions
The eruption of Galunggung volcano lasted for 9 months, and was characterised by three different eruption phases.

Phase I (5 April to mid-May)
Ash columns were reached up to 6 km high and scoria flows extended 5 km from the vent.

Phase 2 (mid-May to October)
This was the most explosive phase of the eruption. Violent phreatomagmatic explosions destroyed 80% of the 1918 lava dome and produced 20 km high ash plumes. The eruptions produced an 800 m wide maar.

Phase 3 (November 1982 to 8 January 1983)
The eruptions in this phase consisted of strombolian activity which produced a scoria cone and a small lava flow inside the maar crater.

The 1982-1983 eruptions caused evacuation of 35,000 people and approximately 94,000 ha of cultivated land was severely affected.

Aircraft Encounter with Ash
On 24th June 1982 a British airways 747 aircraft with 247 passengers and 15 crew, en route from Kuala Lumpur to Perth, cruising at 37,000 ft, flew through ash from Galunggung volcano. Ash was noticed in the cabin, all four engines failed and the aircraft began to lose altitude. The crew managed to restart engine no. 4 at 13,000 ft altitude, and other 3 engines in turn. Engine no. 2 continually surged, and was turned off. A 3-engined emergency landing was made at Jakarta, Indonesia.

1822 Eruptions
The first recorded eruption of Galunggung volcano in 1822 produced lahars which killed more than 4000 people.

Further reading
Sisson, T.W. and Bronto, S., 1998. Evidence for pressure-release melting beneath magmatic arcs from basalt at Galunggung, Indonesia. Nature, 391(6670), pp.883-886.

Krueger, A.J. and Badruddin, M., 1994. Evaluation of sulfur dioxide emissions from explosive volcanism: the 1982–1983 eruptions of Galunggung, Java, Indonesia. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 63, pp.243-256.