Ibu has been frequently erupting since its reawakening in 1998. Prior to its eruption on 18 March 2008, volcanic activities have increased since January 2008.

Agustan et al. (2010) observed an inflation-deflation region around the volcano, especially in the crater region before the eruption: two centimetres of inflation was observed around the rim of the crater and 1 cm subsidence in the crater between August 2007 and October 2007. The volcanic process then resulted in a deflation of approximately 7 cm in the crater between October 2007 and January 2008 observation. This was related to changes in pressure source beneath. At this stage, the eruption was not started yet, so only deep volcanic earthquakes were recorded. Subsequently, there was almost no displacement detected in the January 2008 to February 2008 interval and February 2008 to April 2008 interval. For the last interferogram, 10 cm subsidence in the crater between April 2008 and July 2008 was detected.