Indonesia has evacuated about 6,500 people on the island of Flores after the Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki volcano spewed thick clouds of brownish ash for the past days, authorities said yesterday.
No casualties or major damage had been reported as of yesterday.
The eruptions in East Nusa Tenggara Province are part of hot gas spills that have become more frequent in recent days. The 1,584m mountain is one of the “twin volcanoes” — the Lewotobi Laki-laki and Lewotobi Perempuan — in the Flores Timur District.
Photo: Antara Foto / Mega Tokan via Reuters
The volcano has erupted 40 times since Sunday, with columns of hot clouds rising 500m to 1,500m.
Residents in nearby villages were taken in by relatives or taken to evacuation centers as authorities raised the volcano’s alert status to the highest level on Tuesday last week.
Officials have urged the local community, as well as visitors and tourists, to stay away from a 4km radius around the eruption zone and be aware of the potential for cold lava surging into rivers upstream from the peak in the case of intense rain.
Lewotobi Laki-laki is one of the 120 active volcanoes in Indonesia, an archipelago of 270 million people.
Meanwhile, on the island of Sumatra, Indonesia’s Mount Marapi erupted again on Sunday, for the second time since last month, spewing smoke and ash high into the air.
No casualties have been reported.
At least 100 residents have been evacuated since Friday.
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