A volcano in eastern Indonesia erupted today, emitting an ash cloud more than half a mile high. Authorities placed the surrounding area on the highest level of alert and warned of another powerful eruption.
Indonesia’s volcanology agency reported that Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki, on the tourist island of Flores, erupted shortly after midnight, sending an ash cloud 0.7 miles above its peak. The latest rumblings followed the authorities raising the alert level last evening for the 5,197-foot twin-peaked volcano to the highest in the country’s four-tiered system.
Lewotobi Laki Laki, located on Flores island in eastern Indonesia, spewed volcanic ash between 1.86 and 3.42 miles high on Sunday, agency head Muhammad Wafid said in a statement late Sunday.
Images shared by the agency showed clouds of thick gray ash billowing from the crater. Rumbling noises with low to high intensity were heard from the nearest monitoring post during the eruption, Wafid added.
On Monday morning, the volcano erupted again, belching ash clouds three-quarters of a mile high.
The agency said a radius of more than 3.5 miles from the crater must be cleared and warned residents of the risk of cold lava flow from the crater once heavy rains took place.
There has not been any evacuation of residents or flight cancellations due to the eruptions so far, said Heronimus Lamawuran, a local government official