Air traffic throughout the area has been hampered and evacuations from neighboring communities have been triggered by a major volcanic eruption from Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki in eastern Indonesia. Rising to the highest level the country’s disaster alert was, authorities sent a towering ash column 10,000 meters into the sky at 5:35 p.m. local time on Tuesday.
Thick grey ash vomited from the volcano on Flores east of Bali, causing numerous flight cancellations to and from Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport. Affected airlines include Virgin Australia, Jetstar, Qantas, Air New Zealand, Air India, TigerAir, and Juneyao Airlines. Several domestic AirAsia flights have also been canceled.
Residents and visitors have been advised to keep at least 7 kilometers from the crater by the geology agency of Indonesia. The agency also warned that heavy rainfall could bring on hazardous lahar floods and advised residents to wear face masks to protect against ash inhalation.
National disaster authorities confirmed that at least one town has been evacuated and noted ash rain in many more. Though officials remain on high alert as quakes keep shaking the area, no fatalities or property damage have been noted yet.
Nine people were killed and thousands more were impacted in November, the last time Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki erupted. Along with the more placid yet higher Mount Lewotobi Perempuan, it is one of two peaks in a twin volcano system.
Indonesia is situated on the seismically active Pacific “Ring of Fire” and often sees volcanic activity.
