Indonesia's Mount Lewotovi Rakiraki volcano spewed towering columns of hot ash into the air on Saturday, days after a massive eruption killed nine people and injured dozens.
Activity at the volcano on the remote island of Flores in East Nusa Tenggara province has increased since its first eruption on Monday. On Thursday, authorities expanded the danger zone as the volcano erupted again.
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Hadi Wijaya, director of the Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation, told a news conference that Friday's activity saw the largest column of volcanic ash ever recorded, measuring 10.9 miles high.
Wijaya said volcanic material, including smoldering rocks, lava, hot thumb-sized gravel and ash debris, was thrown up to eight miles from the crater on Friday.
The 5,197-foot volcano erupted at least three times on Saturday, with no casualties reported from the latest eruption, which rose up to 5.9 miles, the volcano monitoring agency said.
Authorities raised the alert status for Lewotovi Rakiraki to the highest level since Monday, and on Thursday expanded the danger zone to a five-mile radius on the northwest and southwest sides of the mountain's slopes.
“We are still considering how far the radius (of the danger zone) should be expanded,” Wijaya said. Clouds of hot volcanic ash “are now spreading in all directions.”
Residents watch as Mount Lewotovi Rakiraki volcano spews volcanic material after an eruption on Indonesia's East Flores island on Saturday. (AP photo)
The volcanic activity damaged thousands of homes and buildings on the predominantly Catholic island, including schools as well as convents, churches and seminaries.
Experts say the crater left by the eruption's rocks was up to 43 feet wide and 16 feet deep.
The government plans to evacuate around 16,000 people from the danger zone, and authorities have warned thousands of people who have been evacuated from the area not to return home. The week-long series of eruptions has already affected more than 10,000 people in 14 villages, with more than half evacuated to makeshift emergency shelters.
A total of 2,384 homes and public buildings were damaged or destroyed after massive amounts of volcanic material hit buildings, said Canesius Didymus, head of the local disaster management agency. The main road connecting the eastern Flores district, where the mountain is located, with the neighboring Larantuca district was also destroyed.
Rescue workers, police and soldiers searched the devastated area and ensured that all residents had left the danger zone. As of Saturday, supplies and relief supplies had been provided to approximately 10,700 displaced people at eight evacuation sites.
The National Disaster Management Agency said residents in the worst-hit villages would be relocated within six months, and each family waiting for housing would be paid a monthly compensation of 500,000 rupiah (about $32).
About 6,500 people were evacuated in January after Mount Lewotovi Rakiraki began erupting, spewing thick clouds and forcing the government to close the island's Franciscus Xaverius Seda airport. No casualties or major damage were reported, but the airport remains closed due to seismic activity.
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Three other airports in the nearby districts of Ende, Larantuka and Bajawa have been closed since Monday after Indonesia Airlines issued a safety alert due to volcanic ash.
Lewotobi Laki Laki is one of a pair of stratovolcanoes in the East Flores district of East Nusa Tenggara province, locally known as Couple Mountains. “Rakiraki” means a man and his spouse is Lewotobi Perempuan, meaning a woman. It is one of 120 active volcanoes in Indonesia, a country of 280 million people. The country is prone to earthquakes, landslides and volcanic activity because it lies along the Ring of Fire, a horseshoe-shaped series of seismic faults around the Pacific Ocean.
