Phenomenon happened after the accumulation of energy due to a magma blockade in the crater, which reduced detectable seismic activity and increased pressure
Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki, NA, erupted twice on Monday (7), launching a column of volcanic materials up to 18 kilometers, pouring ashes over villages and causing flight cancellations. There were no reports of victims immediately. The volcano on Flores Island has been on its highest alert level since the eruption on June 18 and an exclusion zone has been doubled to a radius of 7 kilometers as eruptions became more frequent.
The Indonesian geological agency recorded an avalanche of clouds of scorching gas mixed with rocks and lava that moved up to 5 kilometers through the slopes of the mountain of 1 584 meters. Drone observations showed lava filling the crater, indicating deep magma movement that triggered earthquakes.
Monday’s eruptions were the result of energy accumulation due to a magma blockade in the crater, which reduced detectable seismic activity and increased pressure, Wijaya said.
The initial eruption was one of the largest in Indonesia since 2010, when Mount Merapi, the most volatile volcano in the country, erupted in the densely populated island of Java, killed 353 people and forced more than 350 thousand to retire. Indonesia is an archipelago with over 280 million inhabitants with frequent seismic activity. It has 120 active volcanoes and is situated along the “Ring of Fire”, a series of horseshoe -shaped seismic failures surrounding the Pacific Basin.
‘Greater danger potential’
The initial column of hot clouds that rose at 11am, local time, was the highest of the volcano since the large eruption of November 2024, which killed nine people and injured dozens, Muhammad Wafid, head of the Geological Agency, said. The eruption also occurred in March. “An eruption of this size certainly carries greater danger potential, including its impact on aviation,” Wafid told Associated Press. “We will reassess the expansion of the danger zone, which must be free of residents and tourist activities.”
The volcano erupted again shortly after 7:30 pm, local time, expelling lava and sending clouds of ashes up to 13 kilometers high, according to the center of volcanology and mitigation of geological disasters.
Canceled flights
Until Monday afternoon, at least 24 flights between E, and were canceled and many others late, while flights on four domestic routes were canceled, said Ahmad Syaugi Shahab, Ngurah Rai International Airport spokesman in Bali. He stated that the airport was operating normally, despite cancellations, as monitoring showed that volcanic ashes did not affect Bali’s airspace.
The fall of ashes after the initial eruption covered several villages with debris and blocked sunlight for almost half an hour, said Hadi Wijaya, head of the Center for Vulcanology and mitigation of geological disasters in a statement. He stated that volcanic materials, including fragments of gravel and ashes the size of a thumb, were released up to 8 kilometers from the crater. He warned the residents to be aware of heavy rains that can trigger lava flows in the rivers originating from the volcano.
*With information from Estadão Content
Posted by Nátaly Tenório
