Indonesia's Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki volcano erupts, blasts 10 km ash plume
A powerful eruption rocked Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki in Indonesia's East Nusa Tenggara province on Tuesday, unleashing an ash plume that soared 10 kilometres skyward and triggering the highest possible alert, WAM reports.
Indonesian authorities have advised residents, visitors, and tourists to avoid all activities within a two-kilometer radius of the volcano's crater.
The drastic development underscores Indonesia's volatile geological position. The archipelago, home to 270 million people, boasts over 120 active volcanoes, a direct consequence of its location on the Pacific "Ring of Fire," a vast, horseshoe-shaped belt of seismic fault lines.
Though no casualties have been reported, anxiety is growing in communities surrounding the volcano due to the threat of intensifying lava flows. The expanded danger zone now stretches 8 kilometers (about 5 miles) from the crater. Authorities are warning that continued rainfall could exacerbate the lava flow risk, and air travel disruptions are still a possibility.
Earlier it was reported that Indonesia's Semeru volcano has erupted 4 times with ash columns reaching 800 meters.