Indonesia’s Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki volcano spewed towering columns of hot ash high into the air Saturday, days after a huge eruption killed nine people and injured dozens of others. Activity at the volcano on the remote island of Flores, in East Nusa Tenggara province, has increased since Monday’s initial eruption. On Thursday, authorities expanded the danger zone as the volcano erupted again .
Friday's activity saw the largest column of ash so far recorded at 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) high, Hadi Wijaya, the head of the Center for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation, told a news conference. Wijaya said volcanic materials, including smoldering rocks, lava, and hot, thumb-size fragments of gravel and ash, were thrown up to 8 kilometers (5 miles) from the crater on Friday.
There were no casualties reported from the latest eruption as the 1,584-meter (5,197-foot) volcano shot billowing columns of ash at least three times Saturday, rising up to 9 kilometers (5.6 miles), the volcano monitoring agency said. Authorities increased Lewotobi Laki Laki’s alert status to the highest level since Monday, and expanded the danger zone on Thursday to a radius of 8 kilometers (5 miles) on the northwest and southwest sides of the mountain slope.
“We are still evaluating how far the (danger zone) radius should be expanded,” Wijaya said. Hot clouds of ash “are currently spreading in all directions.” The volcanic activity has damaged schools and thousands of houses and bu.
