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In the latest activity, the largest ash column recorded so far was recorded at a height of 10 kilometers, Hadi Wijaya, head of the Center for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation, said at a press conference.
Wijaya said volcanic materials, including smoldering rocks, lava and hot thumb-sized chunks of gravel and ash, were ejected up to 8 kilometers from the crater on Friday.
There are no reports of casualties in the latest eruption.
The volcano monitoring agency has raised the warning status of Lewotobi Laki Laki to the highest level.
Wijaya said authorities on Thursday extended the danger zone to an eight-kilometer radius in the northwest and southwest of the mountainside as hot ash clouds “currently spread in all directions.”
“We are still evaluating how much the radius (of the danger zone) should be expanded,” he said.
Volcanic activity damaged schools and thousands of homes and buildings, including monasteries, churches and a seminary on the predominantly Catholic island.
At the scene, experts found craters of rocks that fell from eruptions up to 13 meters wide and five meters deep.
Authorities warned thousands of people who fled the area not to return home, as the government planned to evacuate some 16,000 residents from the danger zone.
A series of eruptions this week have already affected more than 10,000 people in 10 villages, more than half of whom have moved to makeshift emergency shelters.
A total of 2,384 houses and public buildings were damaged and collapsed after tons of volcanic material crashed into buildings and destroyed the main road connecting the East Flores district where the mountain is located with the neighboring Larantuka district, said Kanesius Didimus, head of the local disaster management agency.
Rescuers, police and soldiers continued to search the devastated areas on Friday to ensure that all residents were evacuated from the danger zone, while logistics and assistance were provided to nearly 6,000 displaced people in three evacuation sites.
The National Disaster Management Agency said residents of the worst-hit villages would be resettled within six months, with each family waiting to be resettled receiving compensation of 500,000 rupees ($48.50) a month.
About 6,500 people were evacuated in January after Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki began erupting, spewing thick clouds and forcing the government to close the island’s Fransiskus Xaverius Seda airport.
There were no reports of casualties or major damage, but the airport remained closed due to seismic activity.
Three other airports in the neighboring counties of Ende, Larantuka and Bajawa have been closed since Monday after Indonesia’s air navigation service 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 the Husband and Wife Mountains. “Laki laki” means male, while his partner is Lewotobi Perempuan, or female.
The 1,584-meter-high volcano is one of 120 active volcanoes in Indonesia, an archipelago of 280 million people.
The country is prone to earthquakes, landslides and volcanic activity because it lies along the “Ring of Fire,” a series of horseshoe-shaped seismic faults around the Pacific Ocean.
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