Thursday, November 25, 2010

Mount Bromo eruption, map, video

The Bromo Caldera with the Mount Semeru in the background, part of the Tengger massif - Source

When I first saw on CNN last night about the eruption of yet another volcano in Indonesia, fellow-blogger, KhengSiong, came to mind and how relieved he must have been not to have been caught in a situation of chaos and anxiety which is naturally associated with natural disasters.

KhengSiong's recent travel to East Java included a visit to Mount Bromo. Pictures on his blog show Mount Bromo belching smoke as viewed from another volcano nearby. From Mount Penanjakan at 2,770m, one can get a good view of Mount Bromo at 2,392m.

Mount Bromo, in East Java, is one of four volcanic cones located in an ancient volcano, Tengger. Together with the sand sea, the Tengger Sand Sea (known in Indonesian as Laut Pasir Tengger) and other features including four lakes and 50 rivers, the total area of 5,250 hectares at an altitude of about 2,100m is known as Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park. The Tengger Sand Sea has been protected since 1919. The Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park was declared a national park in 1982.

Where is Mount Bromo? For an idea of the location of Mount Bromo, here's a map borrowed from The Jakarta Post.

The Jakarta Post reported on Wednesday, Mount Bromo continued to spew yellowish ash and hot gases 500 to 1,000 meters in height after which volcanic activities began to subside.

A day earlier, the volcano which last erupted in 2004, spewed volcanic ash out to a radius of 10 kilometers. On Tuesday evening, the ash covered Ngadirejo village in Pasuruan regency, impacting on visibility. More info on Mt. Bromo’s activities start subsiding.

Here's a video (dated June 3, 2009) showing the surrounding areas of Mount Bromo and an expedition of visitors watching the sunrise and trekking up to view the volcano. A great video, very informative, tells you what to expect.


And here's a map extracted from the video.. Click on image to enlarge.

8 comments:

  1. Was I too early for my trip? It must be interesting to see heightened volcano activities - provided that I am in a safe space...

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  2. Nvr expected it to erupt so soon! I was there in late June too. :)

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  3. Majestic eruption but I'd be too scared to be anywhere.

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  4. Anonymous7:00 PM

    Mount Bromo is a popular tourist destination. Hopefully no eruption.

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  5. oh, yet another eruption?? that's very unlucky.. hmmm, khengsiong was actually in Java when Mt Bromo first erupted, but he is sound and safe now no worries, haha.. hmmm, i really wonder when the volcano will finally really erupt with lava..

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  6. Poor Indonesian. :(

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  7. Anonymous1:08 PM

    nice article see also the last eruption at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9mU5rHbAxk

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  8. I just came back from climbing Mount Papandayan in Garut, 3 hours from Bandung. I would like to share my experience with your readers. 3 days after the climb, (by that time, i had flown back to KL), I came down with flu like symptoms and an excruciating sore throat. I thought it was a normal flu. Then I remembered my friends who climbed mount Bromo and Mount Ijen earlier and also fell sick after they returned. I did some research and found that the sulphur we have encountered had poisoned us all. I know no guides will tell you this as it will affect their livelihood. Later on, another friend told me his father was hospitalized for 1 week for sulphuric poisoning after spending a few days on Mount Bromo on a photographic assignment. Please think twice before you climb any active volcanoes. God bless.


    Juliana Phang

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