Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki Erupts, Prompting Danger Zone Expansion and Flight Cancellations

Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki Erupts, Prompting Danger Zone Expansion

Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki, a volcano in south-central Indonesia, erupted three times on Friday, spewing an ash column 8,000 meters (26,200 feet) high. This prompted authorities to expand the danger zone around the volcano to 8 kilometers (5 miles) from the crater.

The volcano, located on the remote island of Flores in East Nusa Tenggara province, has experienced hundreds of earthquakes and increased visible volcanic activity in the past week. After the three eruptions late Thursday and early Friday, the volcano remained quiet during the day, with seismic activity declining.

Several airlines canceled flights between Australia and Indonesia's tourist island of Bali due to the eruption, while other international and domestic flights to the island have been delayed. Residents were warned to be vigilant about heavy rainfall triggering lava flows in rivers originating from the volcano.

An eruption of Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki in November 2022 killed nine people and injured dozens. The 1,584-meter (5,197 foot) mountain is a twin volcano with Mount Lewotobi Perempuan in the Flores Timur district.

Indonesia, an archipelago of 270 million people, experiences frequent seismic activity. It has 120 active volcanoes and sits along the "Ring of Fire," a horseshoe-shaped series of seismic fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.