Residents wore masks to protect themselves from thick volcanic ash that blanketed roads and green rice fields in villages in south central Indonesia as rumbling Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki erupted on Tuesday for a second straight day.
The eruption at dawn sent lava and clouds of ash up to 4km high. That followed an eruption at about midday on Monday that sent a column of volcanic materials up to 18km into the sky and an evening burst that spewed lava and sent volcanic ash as high as 13km into the air.
Photos and videos circulating on social media showed terrified residents running for their lives under the rain of ash and gravel, and motorists struggled to drive motorbikes and cars in the reduced visibility as the ash clouds from Monday’s eruption expanded into a mushroom shape.
Photo: AFP
No casualties have been reported from the latest eruptions of the volcano that has been at the highest alert level since June 18, when its no-go zone was expanded to a 7km radius, Indonesian National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesperson Abdul Muhari said.
“People around the volcano have increasingly understood how to minimize the impact of disaster risks as eruptions became more frequent since the end of 2023,” Muhari said in a statement.
The eruptions of the volcano on Flores Island affected more than 10,000 people in 10 villages in East Flores and Sikka districts, the local disaster management agency said.
Thick volcanic ash and rocks were reported to have fallen in villages of Nawakote, Klantanio, Hokeng Jaya, Boru, Pululera and Wulanggitang, where roads and green rice fields were transformed into grey thick mud and rocks, Sikka District Administration Public Information Officer Very Awales said.
Schools were closed in those affected areas since Monday to protect students and staff from various hazards due to volcanic activities, he said.
“The smell of sulfur and ash hung so thickly in the air that breathing was painful,” he added.
Authorities distributed 50,000 masks and urged residents to limit outdoor activities to protect themselves from volcanic materials. Residents were also urged to be vigilant about heavy rainfall that could trigger lava flows in rivers originating from the volcano.
Dozens of flights to and from the Ngurah Rai international airport on the resort island of Bali were delayed or canceled, but airport spokesperson Ahmad Syaugi Shahab said the airport was running normally despite the cancelations, as monitoring showed the volcanic ash had not affected Bali’s airspace.
Monday’s initial eruption of Lewotobi Laki-laki was one of Indonesia’s largest since 2010 when Mount Merapi, the country’s most volatile volcano, erupted on the densely populated island of Java. That killed 353 people and forced more than 350,000 people to evacuate.
Indonesia is an archipelago of more than 280 million people with frequent seismic activity. It has 120 active volcanoes and sits along the “Ring of Fire,” a horseshoe-shaped series of seismic fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.
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