Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki in Indonesia erupts for the second time in a week

Indonesia’s Mount Lewotobi, Laki Laki, sent massive columns of ash into the air on Thursday in an explosion far larger than the one that killed nine people and injured dozens three days earlier.

No information was given about whether there was any loss of life in the last explosion.

The 1,584-meter (5,197 feet) volcano on the remote island of Flores spewed columns of ash 11 times on Thursday, the latest and largest rising to 8,000 meters (26,240 feet), said Hadi Wijaya, head of the Center for Volcanology. Geological Disaster Mitigation.

The volcano had shown less activity since Monday’s deadly eruption killed nine people and injured 64.

Monday’s explosion affected more than 10,000 people in 10 villages.

About 4,400 villagers were moved to temporary emergency shelters after the explosion destroyed seven schools, nearly two dozen houses and a monastery on the mostly Catholic island.

Volcanic materials, including smoldering rocks, lava and hot, thumb-sized gravel and ash, were ejected seven kilometers (4.3 miles) from its crater on Monday.

While visiting devastated areas, officials found craters up to 13 meters (43 feet) wide and five meters (16 feet) deep where rocks had fallen during the explosions, in many places, including a collapsed school.

“It shows a difference in characteristics compared to the previous eruption in January,” said Mr Wijaya, head of the volcanology centre.

He added that the earlier eruption had released volcanic materials mostly around the summit, followed by lava flows.

“We are still analyzing the change in eruption character of Lewotobi, which will be used by the government to determine a safe relocation area for the residents,” Mr. Wijaya said.

He said his agency had asked the local government of East Nusa Tenggara province to close the only road connecting Maumere, the island’s largest city, to the neighboring province of Larantuka, because it passes through the volcano’s danger zone.

The country’s volcano monitoring agency raised the alert for Lewotobi Laki Laki to its highest level on Monday, more than doubling the exclusion zone to a seven-kilometer (4.3-mile) radius and banning any activity in that area.

Suharyanto, head of the National Disaster Management Agency, who like many Indonesians uses a single name, said authorities had warned thousands of people who had fled not to return to their homes as the government planned to remove about 16,000 residents from the danger zone.

“Permanent relocation is being considered as a long-term mitigation measure to anticipate future eruption,” Suharyanto told reporters after visiting devastated areas on Thursday.

He said residents of the worst-hit villages would be relocated over the next six months and compensation of 500,000 rupees (£24) a month would be paid to each family waiting for a new home.

Lewotobi Laki About 6,500 people were evacuated in January after Mount Laki began erupting, sending up thick clouds and forcing the government to close the island’s Franciskus Xaverius Seda Airport.

No casualties or major damage were reported, but the airport has remained closed since then due to seismic activity.

Lewotobi Laki Laki is one of a pair of stratovolcanoes in the East Flores region of East Nusa Tenggara province, known locally as the husband-wife mountains.

“Laki laki” means man while his wife is Lewotobi Perempuan or woman.

The vulcanology center also said Mount Marapi in West Sumatra province, one of the country’s most active volcanoes, erupted again on Thursday, spewing thick columns of ash at least three times and covering nearby villages with debris.

There was no loss of life.

Lewotobi Laki Laki is one of 120 active volcanoes in Indonesia, an archipelago with a population of 280 million.

The country is prone to earthquakes, landslides and volcanic activity because it lies along the “Ring of Fire,” a horseshoe-shaped series of seismic fault lines around the Pacific Ocean.