by JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki, one of Indonesia’s most active volcanoes, erupted for a second day in a row Wednesday, spewing towering columns of hot ash that later covered villages. No casualties were immediately reported.
Indonesia’s Geology Bureau said an early morning eruption sent lava and ash clouds up to 10 kilometers (6 miles) high. Another eruption less than nine hours later sent a towering mushroom-shaped ash cloud as high as 8 kilometers (almost 5 miles) into the sky.
The rumbling volcano on the remote island of Flores erupted three times on Tuesday. Avalanches of scorching gas clouds mixed with rocks and lava fell from the slopes during the morning and afternoon eruptions. The third eruption of the day lit up the night sky with glowing lava and lightning bolts.
Several villages are covered in ash and rubble, Hadi Wijaya, head of the Center for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Management, said in a statement. He warned residents to be vigilant against heavy rainfall that could trigger lava flows in rivers originating from the volcano.
The 1,584-meter (5,197-foot) mountain is at its highest alert level since an eruption on June 18, and an exclusion zone was established 7 kilometers (4.3 miles) from the crater as eruptions became more common. The major eruption in November 2024 killed nine people and injured dozens. It also erupted in March.
Indonesia is an archipelago with more than 280 million inhabitants and frequent seismic activity. It has 120 active volcanoes and lies along the ‘Ring of Fire’, a horseshoe-shaped series of seismic fault lines that encircle the Pacific Basin.
