Indonesia raises alert to highest level for Lewotobi Laki Laki volcano

JAKARTA, Indonesia — Indonesia raised the alert level of Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki to the highest after it erupted eight times over the weekend, its volcanology agency has said.

Lewotobi Laki Laki, located on Flores island in eastern Indonesia, spewed volcanic ash between 1.86 and 3.42 miles high on Sunday, agency head Muhammad Wafid said in a statement late Sunday.

“Our analysis showed that the activities of Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki are still high so we raised the status level starting on Sunday” at 8 p.m. (9 a.m. ET), he said.

Images shared by the agency showed clouds of thick gray ash billowing from the crater. Rumbling noises with low to high intensity were heard from the nearest monitoring post during the eruption, Wafid added.

On Monday morning, the volcano erupted again, belching ash clouds three-quarters of a mile high.

The agency said a radius of more than 3.5 miles from the crater must be cleared and warned residents of the risk of cold lava flow from the crater once heavy rains took place.

There has not been any evacuation of residents or flight cancellations due to the eruptions so far, said Heronimus Lamawuran, a local government official.

In March, an eruption at Lewotobi Laki Laki forced some airlines to cancel and delay flights into Bali, including Australia’s Jetstar and Qantas Airways.

At least nine people were killed and thousands were evacuated when the volcano erupted in November last year.

Indonesia sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, an area of high seismic activity atop multiple tectonic plates.