Key Points
- At least nine people died after Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki in eastern Indonesia erupted just after midnight on Monday.
- Officials said the volcano spewed explosive plumes of lava, forcing several nearby villages to be evacuated.
- This eruption follows a series of eruptions of different volcanoes in Indonesia.
At least nine people died after Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki in eastern Indonesia erupted on Sunday, spewing explosive plumes of lava and forcing authorities to evacuate several nearby villages, officials said on Monday.
Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki, located on Flores Island in East Nusa Tenggara province, erupted just after midnight on Monday, spilling lava, volcanic ash and blazing rocks.
“After the eruption, there was a power outage, and then it was raining and big lightning which caused panic among residents,” Hadi Wijaya, a spokesperson for the Center of Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation, told Reuters on Monday.
He said the authority had raised the status of the volcano to level 4 or the highest.
The agency has recommended that a 7km radius be cleared.
Fiery lava and rocks hit the nearest settlements around 4km from the crater, burning and damaging houses, Wijaya said.
Heronimus Lamawuran, a local official in the East Flores area, said at least nine people had died as of Monday morning, adding the eruption had affected seven villages.
“We have started evacuating residents since this morning to other villages located around 20km from the crater,” he said.
Lamawuran said the nearest villages were covered by thick volcanic ash.
The authorities are still gathering data on the number of evacuees and damaged buildings.
The eruption of the Lewotobi Laki-Laki volcano affected seven villages, according to local authorities. Credit: East Flores BPBD/EPA
Indonesia is located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, an area of high seismic activity atop multiple tectonic plates. The latest event follows a series of eruptions of different volcanoes across the country.
In May, a volcano on the remote island of Halmahera, Mount Ibu, caused the evacuation of people from seven villages.
North Sulawesi’s Ruang volcano also erupted in May and prompted authorities to evacuate more than 12,000 people.
Flash floods and cold lava flow from Mount Marapi in West Sumatra province covered several nearby districts following heavy rain on 11 May, killing more than 60 people.
