Mount Etna and Kilauea often share top billing as “the world’s most active volcano”, but that may be due more due to the fact that they’re major tourist attractions rather than being the actual most active volcanoes. Another strong candidate is Dukono, located on the Indonesian island of Halmahera. According to the Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program, Dukono has been erupting continuously for nearly 100 years, beginning in 1933. Pretty much any time a satellite passes overhead, an ash plume is visible.
On April 26, 2026, the Sentinel-2 satellite captured this view of ash rising above Dukono. The grey-brown ash stretches west-northwest from the summit. Ash from an earlier burst is visible settling to the ground to the west (left) and coating the nearby forest canopy. Dukon’s summit has been denuded by the nearly-constant activity, and vegetation on the volcano’s slopes is stunted by the frequent ashfall. Indonesia’s Center for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation (or Pusat Vulkanologi dan Mitigasi Bencana Geologi (PVMBG) in Indonesian) reports that recent ash plumes reached altitudes of 200 – 3,000 meters (600 – 9,800 feet).
Dukono (upper right) and Ibu (lower let) volcanoes simultaneously emit ash plumes on April 26, 2026.
(Rober Simmon. with Copernicus/Sentinel-2 data)
An overview of the same satellite scene reveals a surprise — nearby Gunung Ibu, southwest of Dukonu, is also erupting. Twin puffs of ash float west from the volcano. As with Dukono there’s some ash covering nearby forest. Ibu also features a recent lava flow, emplaced in the mid 2010s. The scene includes several more volcanic features, most covered in thick vegetation. Dukono and Ibu are only two of the more than 100 active volcanoes in Indonesia.