Mount Hayli Gubbi in Ethiopia reportedly erupted on Sunday (11/23) last week. This mountain has not erupted for 12,000 years. The incident caught the attention of researchers, including Dr. Mirzam Abdurrachman, a lecturer in Petrolgy, Volcanology, and Geochemistry at ITB FITB. He mentioned that there are three classifications of volcanoes: active, dormant, and extinct. However, he emphasized that defining these boundaries is not always easy.
According to Dr. Mirzam, an active volcano is one that has erupted since the Holocene period (last 11,650 years). A dormant volcano, on the other hand, is one that has not erupted for thousands of years but still has the potential to become active again. An extinct volcano, meanwhile, is one that no longer has an active magma supply.
Dr. Mirzam gave the example of Mount Sinabung in North Sumatra, which became active again in 2010 after over 400 years of dormancy. He also mentioned the sub-type of dormant volcanoes, known as restless volcanoes, which show signs of magma movement beneath the surface, without actively erupting.
In Indonesia, this sub-type is categorized as Type B volcanoes, with 30 of them scattered across Sumatra, Java, Bali, Nusa Tenggara, and Maluku. With Indonesia being one of the countries with the highest number of volcanoes in the world, Dr. Mirzam revealed that about 16% of the world’s volcanoes, or 127, are located in Indonesia.
The high population living on the slopes of these volcanoes increases the vulnerability. More than 350 million people worldwide live within a 30 km radius of active or potentially active volcanoes. Living in the Ring of Fire area, Dr. Mirzam emphasized the importance of increasing public understanding of volcano dynamics.
‘Learning, understanding, and knowing about volcanoes is the best way to live harmoniously for those of us living in the Ring of Fire region,’ he stated.
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