Indonesia’s Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki yesterday erupted again with giant ash and smoke plumes after forcing evacuations of villages and flight cancelations, including to and from the resort island of Bali.
Several eruptions sent ash up to 5km into the sky on Tuesday evening to yesterday afternoon. An eruption on Tuesday afternoon sent thick, gray clouds 10km into the sky that expanded into a mushroom-shaped ash cloud visible as much as 150km kilometers away.
The eruption alert was raised on Tuesday to the highest level and the danger zone where people are recommended to leave was expanded to 8km from the crater.
Photo: AP
Officers also evacuated from the Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki monitoring post 7km from the crater to avoid falling gravel released in the eruption. No casualties have been reported.
Ash and debris fell in a number of places outside the danger zone, including the villages of Boru, Hewa and Watobuku. Some residents from Nurabelen village in Ile Bura subdistrict fled to evacuation sites in Konga to avoid the impact of the eruption, the Indonesian National Agency for Disaster Countermeasure said in a statement.
“Some residents have also evacuated to Nileknoheng village, which is 12km from the crater,” agency spokesman Abdul Muhari said.
Dozens of flights were canceled yesterday, including those connecting Bali to cities in Australia, Malaysia, India and China, according to the Web site of Bali’s I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport.
Volcanic ash can pose a risk to plane engines.
The cancelations and delays affected thousands of travelers.
Australian carrier Jetstar, which flies daily between the tourist hot spot and several Australian cities, said that the ash cloud was forecast to clear by late yesterday and its services would be rescheduled.
The 1,584m Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki has had several eruptions, and its danger level and no-go zone have changed several times before being raised again to the highest level on Tuesday.
An eruption of the volcano in November last year killed nine people and injured dozens. It also erupted in March.
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