Jakarta: Indonesia’s rumbling Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki erupted twice on Monday, sending a column of volcanic materials up to 18 km into the sky, dumping ash on villages and causing flight cancellations. The volcano on Flores island has been at the highest alert level since an eruption on June 18, and an exclusion zone had been doubled to a 7-km radius as eruptions became more frequent.
Indonesia’s Geology Agency recorded an avalanche of searing gas clouds mixed with rocks and lava travelling up to 5 km down the slopes of the 1,584-metre (5,197-foot) mountain. Observations from drones showed lava filling the crater, indicating deep movement of magma that set off earthquakes.
The initial column of hot clouds that rose just after 11:00 am local time (0305 GMT) was the volcano’s highest since the major eruption in November 2024 that killed nine people and injured dozens, said Muhammad Wafid, the Geology Agency chief. It also erupted in March.
“An eruption of that size certainly carries a higher potential for danger, including its impact on aviation,” Wafid told The Associated Press. “We shall reevaluate to enlarge its danger zone that must be cleared of villagers and tourist activities.”
The volcano erupted again just after 7:30 pm (1100 GMT), spewing lava and sending clouds of ash up to 13 km into the air, according to the Center for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation.
By Monday afternoon, at least 24 flights between Bali and Australia, Singapore and South Korea were cancelled and many others delayed, while flights on four domestic routes were cancelled, said Ahmad Syaugi Shahab, spokesperson for Bali’s Ngurah Rai international airport.
He said the airport was running normally despite the cancellations, as monitoring showed the volcanic ash had not affected Bali’s airspace.
Falling ash after the initial eruption blanketed several villages with debris and blocked sunlight for almost half an hour, Hadi Wijaya, head of the Centre for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation, said in a statement.