Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki, Indonesia, erupted on Wednesday after forcing the village and cancelling flights, including to and from the Bali Resort Island.
Several outbreaks brought Ash up to 5,000 meters into the sky from Tuesday evening to Wednesday afternoon. An eruption Tuesday afternoon sent thick gray clouds emitting 10,000 meters, thus extending into mushroom-shaped gray clouds, 150 kilometers visible.
Witness videos in Indonesia captured ashes from the top of the mountain, which stood on Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki. The Indonesian Volcano Academy said the clouds were 11 kilometers high.
The eruption alert was raised to its highest level on Tuesday, suggesting that people would be able to extend the danger zone where people left to eight kilometers from the crater.
The officers also evacuated from the Lewotobi Laki-Laki monitoring, seven kilometers from the crater, to avoid the gravel released from the eruption. No casualties.
Ashes and debris fell in many places outside the danger zone, including the villages of Bolu, Huwa and Watbuku. In a statement, the National Disaster Management Agency said some residents from Nurabelen Village, the Ile Bura neighborhood, fled to an evacuation site in Konga to avoid the effects of the eruption.
“Some residents have also evacuated to the village of Nirokno, 12 kilometers from the crater,” said Abdul Muhari, a spokesman for the National Disaster Management Agency.
According to the website of Bali's I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport, dozens of flights were cancelled on Wednesday, including those connecting Bali to cities that connect Bali to Australia, Malaysia, India and China. Volcanic ash can be a risk to the aircraft engine.
The flight was also cancelled to and from Labuan Bajo, another tourist destination in Flores Island, East Noosa Tangala Province. The airport is still in operation.
Cancellations and delays affected thousands of travelers.
Australian airline Jetstar, which flies between tourist hotspots and several Australian cities every day, said it is expected to remove ashes in late Wednesday and will reschedule its services.
Air New Zealand canceled a return trip to Auckland and will rebook customers on the next available service, the airline said in a statement on Wednesday. According to information from Bali's Den Barça Airport, flights to New Delhi due to volcanoes, Singapore and Puden, China were also cancelled.
The 1,584-meter Lewotobi Laki-Laki is a double volcano, on Flores Timur, and on the Lewotobi Perempuan.
The volcano has had several eruptions, with several changes in its dangerous levels and prohibited areas before again lifting it to its highest level Tuesday.
In November, an eruption in Lewotobi Laki-Laki Mountain killed nine people and dozens were injured. It also broke out in March.
Indonesia is an archipelago of 270 million people who regularly engage in seismic activities. It has 120 active volcanoes, sitting along the “ring of fire” on a series of horseshoe-shaped seismic fault lines surrounding the Pacific basin.
