Mount Merbabu

Mount Merbabu (Gunung Merbabu) is a dormant stratovolcano in Central Java province on the Indonesian island of Java. The name Merbabu could be loosely translated as 'Mountain of Ash' from the Javanese combined words; Meru means "mountain" and awu or abu means "ash".

The active volcano Mount Merapi is directly adjacent on its southeast side, while the city of Salatiga is located on its northern foothills. A 1,500m high broad saddle lies between Merbabu and Merapi, the site of the village of Selo, Java, and highly fertile farming land.

There are two peaks; Syarif (3,119 m) and Kenteng Songo (3,145 m). Three U-shaped radial valleys extend from the Kenteng Songo summit in northwesterly, northeasterly, and southeasterly directions. Two known moderate eruptions occurred in 1560 and 1797. The 1797 event was rated 2: Explosive, on the Volcanic Explosivity Index. An unconfirmed eruption may have occurred in 1570.

Geologically recent eruptions originated from a North Northwest-South Southeast fissure system that cut across the summit and fed the large-volume lava flows from Kopeng and Kajor craters on the northern and southern flanks, respectively.

Merbabu can be climbed from several routes originating from the town of Kopeng on the northeast side, and also from Selo on the southern side. A climb from Kopeng to Kenteng Songo takes between 8 and 10 hours.

An area of 57 km² at the mountain has been declared a national park in 2004.