Terrifying sight: Schoolchildren fleeing as Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki erupts in the background as seen from Lewolaga village in East Flores, East Nusa Tenggara. — AFP
A volcano in the eastern part of the country erupted more than half a dozen times yesterday, catapulting a colossal ash tower 8km into the sky against a backdrop of lightning as nearby residents fled in panic.
Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki erupted on Monday and Tuesday, killing nine people and forcing the relocation of residents from a 7km exclusion zone.
The country’s volcanology agency reported seven eruptions yesterday, the biggest of which belched an ash tower 8km high, according to an observation post.
Some said it was the biggest eruption they had ever seen from Lewotobi Laki-Laki.
“This is the first time I saw this big eruption since I’ve been living in Lewolaga village,” said Anastasia Adriyani, 41, who lives outside the exclusion zone.
“I was cooking at the community kitchen (for evacuees) and when it happened, I ran back home. I was very scared.”
Officials have raised the alert level for the 1,703m twin-peaked volcano on the tourist island of Flores to the highest level.
There were no immediate reports of damage to nearby villages from yesterday’s fresh eruptions.
But residents and schoolchildren were seen running from their homes, according to an AFP journalist, who added that volcanic lightning was also seen.
Locals at a temporary shelter were anxious as the latest eruptions rumbled on yesterday morning.
“It is sad to think of our village and we are also panicked seeing the continuous eruptions. Since last night and this morning, we’re still worried,” said evacuee Antonius Puka, 56.
Authorities warned the thousands of people who fled not to return home as the government planned to move about 16,000 residents out of the danger zone, said National Disaster Management Agency head Suharyanto, who, like many Indonesians, uses a single name.
“Permanent relocation is considered as a long-term mitigation measure to anticipate eruption in the future,” Suharyanto told reporters after visiting the devastated areas yesterday.
Laki-Laki, which means “man” in Indonesian, is twinned with a calmer volcano named after the Indonesian word for “woman”.
About 6,500 people were evacuated in January after Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki began erupting, spewing thick clouds and forcing the government to close the island’s Fransiskus 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 the 120 active volcanoes in Indonesia, an archipelago of 280 million people.
The country is prone to earthquakes, landslides and volcanic activity because it sits along the “Ring of Fire”, a horseshoe- shaped series of seismic fault lines around the Pacific Ocean. — AFP/AP
