The densely populated and persistently active volcano of Semeru in East Java, Indonesia,27 hosts communities able to adjust to, compensate for, and tolerate continuous exposure to28 persistent volcanic threats. The goal of this research is to understand how, so that the29 knowledge can contribute to preparedness and support emergency management. We use30 surveys at the village scale and statistical analyses to explore the socioeconomic31 characteristics of communities with the aim to appraise how dense, rural/urban populations32 around a continuously active volcano can compensate for daily hardships and limited access33 to resources, which prevent post-eruption recovery. We found that sustainable, rural34 livelihood providing food and small-income jobs, diversified resources from ecological belts,35 new alternatives and temporary work migrations all compensate, while recurrent experiences36 on hazardous events may harness social adaptive capacity. What renders the majority of37 villagers around Semeru resilient to chronic threats lies in solidarity networks, cultural beliefs,38 trust in early warning and access to vital resources in case of crisis. Conservative, top-down39 risk management policies in Indonesia combined with obstacles that limit the adaptive40 capacity of communities results in disaster reparedness prior to large eruptions being too41 slow, with the subsequent management of the disaster likely to be inefficient. The42 conservative risk management policy likely suffices during periods of mild activity, but it43 may lead to future disasters in case of large eruptions or destructive lahars. The case study of44 population adaptive capacity thus provides a frame of reference for other disaster-prone45 countries