Indonesia’s Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki unleashed towering columns of ash into the air on Thursday, in an even larger eruption than the one that killed nine people and injured dozens of others three days ago.
There were no reports of casualties from the latest eruption as residents living in the danger zone spanning a radius of 7 kilometers (4.3 miles) from the crater had been evacuated to other villages, said Kensius Didimus, a local disaster agency official.
The 1,584-meter (5,197-foot) volcano on the remote island of Flores shot billowing columns of ash 11 times on Thursday, with the latest and largest rising 8,000 meters (26,240 feet, nearly 5 miles high), said Hadi Wijaya, the head of the Center for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation.
The volcano had shown less activity since Monday’s deadly eruption killed nine people and injured 64 others.
Monday’s eruption affected more than 10,000 people in 10 villages. Nearly 6,000 villagers moved into makeshift emergency shelters after the eruption, which destroyed seven schools, nearly two dozen houses and a convent on the majority-Catholic island.
Volcanic materials, including smoldering rocks, lava and hot, thumb-size fragments of gravel and ash were thrown up to 7 kilometers (4.3 miles) from the crater on Monday.
While visiting the devastated areas, officials found craters where rocks fell during eruptions, up to 13 meters (43 feet) wide and 5 meters (16 feet) deep, in several places including a destroyed school.
“It shows a difference in characteristics from the previous eruption in January,” said Wijaya, head of the volcanology center. He added that the earlier eruption mostly unleashed volcanic materials around the peak, followed by lava flows.
“We are still analyzing the change of Lewotobi’s eruption character, which will be used by the government to determine a safe relocation site for residents,” Wijaya said.
Peoplesmind
