Indonesia

Indonesian rumble Mount Lewotobi Macho I raised twice on Monday, sending a column of volcanic materials up to 11 miles to heaven, throwing ashes to the villages and causing dozens of flight cancellations.

No victims were reported immediately. The volcano on the island of Flores has been at the highest alert level since an eruption on June 18, and an exclusion zone doubled to a radius of 4.3 miles as the eruptions became more frequent.

The Indonesian Geology Agency registered an avalanche of stubborn gas clouds mixed with rocks and lava that traveled to 3 miles down the slopes of the mountain of 5,197 feet. The observations of the drones showed Lava filling the crater, which indicates a deep magma movement that triggered earthquakes.

The initial column of hot clouds that rose just after 11:00 am, local time (0305 ​​GMT) was the highest in the volcano from a Important eruption in November 2024 That killed nine people and wounded dozens, said Muhammad Wafid, head of the Geology Agency. It also exploded in March.

“An eruption of that size certainly has a greater potential for danger, including its impact on aviation,” Wafid told The News. “We will reevaluate to expand its danger zone that must be cleared from villagers and tourist activities.”

In a statement, Wafid urged the public and tourists to stay at least four miles from the eruption, keep calm and follow the instructions of the local government.

“The public is asked not to create information from unclear sources,” Wafid said. “In addition, people around disaster prone areas must be aware of the potential for lava floods if heavy rains occur.”

The volcano exploded again just after 7:30 pm (1100 GMT), throwing and sending clouds of ashes up to 8 miles in the air, according to the Volcanology and Mitigation Center for geological disasters.

For Monday afternoon, at least 24 flights between Bali and Australia, Singapore and South Korea were canceled and many others were delayed. Flights were canceled on four national routes, said Ahmad Syaugi Shahab, spokesman for Ngurah Rai Bali International Airport.

He said that the airport was normally working despite cancellations, since the monitoring showed that volcanic ash had not affected Bali’s airspace.

“Several airlines that serve the routes to Labuan low (in Flores), Australia, Singapore and South Korea have confirmed cancellations and delays,” he said in a statement.

He said the airlines included Virgin Australia, Jetstar Airways and Airsia Indonesia.

Jetstar of Australia said several flights were canceled “due to volcanic ashes caused by an eruption of Mount Lewotobi.”

Ashes fall after the initial eruption covered several villages with debris and sunlight blocked for almost half an hour, said Hadi Wijaya, head of the Volcanology and Mitigation Center for geological disasters, in a statement.

He said that volcanic materials, including gravel and ashes fragments of the size of a thumb, were thrown at 5 miles from the crater. He warned residents who were attentive to heavy rains that could trigger lava flows in rivers originating in the volcano.

The photos and videos circulated on social networks showed that the ash cloud expanded in a fungus form as tons of volcanic debris covered with houses to their roofs in the nearby villages. Some residents were panicked under the rain of the volcanic material or fled with motorcycles and cars.

The eruptions of Monday were the result of the accumulation of energy due to a magma block in the crater, which reduced the detectable seismic activity while increasing the pressure, Wijaya said.

The initial eruption was the largest in Indonesia since 2010 when Mount Merapi, the most volatile volcano in the country, exploded on the densely populated island of Java. That killed 353 people and forced more than 350,000 people to evacuate.

Indonesia is an archipelago of more than 280 million people with frequent seismic activity. It has 120 active volcanoes and sits along the “Fire Ring”, a series of horseshoe -shaped seismic failures that surround the Pacific basin.

Agance France-Presse contributed to this report.

• Volcano
• Indonesia