Lewotobi Laki Laki, one of Indonesia’s most active volcanoes, erupted for the second consecutive day.
Early Saturday morning, the eruption propelled a column of smoke and volcanic matter as high as 11 miles into the sky. Volcanic debris covered nearby villages, though no casualties were reported. This explosion marked one of the country’s most significant since the 2010 eruption of Mount Merapi, Indonesia’s most volatile volcano.
Hours before Saturday’s event, a Friday eruption sent smoke and ash approximately 6.2 miles high, illuminating the sky with incandescent lava and flashes of lightning.
The volcano also generated an avalanche of hot gas clouds, rocks, and lava that descended up to 3 miles down its slopes. Drone observations revealed substantial magma movement, triggering tremors recorded by seismic monitors.
According to the agency, volcanic material, including hot, thumb-sized gravel, was ejected up to 5 miles from the crater, coating nearby villages and towns with a thick layer of volcanic residue. The agency urged residents to be wary of heavy rainfall, which could prompt lava flows in rivers originating from the volcano.
The 5,197-foot Lewotobi Laki Laki volcano has been on the highest alert level since its eruption in June, with its exclusion zone doubled to a 4.3-mile radius due to increased eruption frequency.
This latest activity follows less than a month after Bali’s Ngurah Rai Airport experienced flight delays and cancellations due to a major eruption on July 7 that coated roads and fields with debris.
Indonesia, with a population of 280 million, features 120 active volcanoes. The nation is situated along the “Ring of Fire,” a horseshoe-shaped series of seismic fault lines that encircles the Pacific Basin.