Indonesia's Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki erupted for the second time within a week, sending shockwaves through the remote island of Flores.
The eruption was significantly more severe than the previous one on November 4, which tragically claimed nine lives and injured dozens more.
This time, the volcano unleashed towering columns of ash into the sky, reaching heights of up to 8,000 meters (26,240 feet), as reported by Hadi Wijaya, head of the Center for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation.
The eruption caused widespread panic among local residents, particularly schoolchildren, who were seen running for their lives. "This is the first time I saw this big eruption since I've been living in Lewolaga village," recounted Anastasia Adriyani, a resident outside the exclusion zone. Her fear was palpable as she described abandoning her cooking duties at a community kitchen for evacuees to rush home in terror.
The initial eruption earlier in the week had already devastated the region, affecting over 10,000 people across 10 villages. It destroyed seven schools, nearly two dozen houses, and a convent on this predominantly Catholic island.
Volcanic debris, including smoldering rocks and hot gravel, was hurled up to 7 kilometers (4.3 miles) from the crater, leaving behind craters as large as 13 meters (43 feet) wide and 5 meters (16 feet) deep. Authorities are now grappling with the challenge of understanding the changing nature of the volcano's activity.
Wijaya noted, “We are still analyzing the change of Lewotobi’s eruption character, which will be used by the government to determine a safe relocation site for residents.”
In the meantime, the local government has been urged to close the only road connecting Maumere, the island’s largest city, to the neighboring district of Larantuka, as it traverses the danger zone.
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