Indonesia’s Lewotobi Laki – Laki volcano erupts; Government evacuates thousands

An eruption of Indonesia’s Lewotobi Laki – Laki volcano spewed ash clouds more than 8 kilometres (5 miles) high, authorities said as they raised the alert status to the highest level, and an Australian airline cancelled some flights into Bali on Friday.

Today’s large eruption of the volcano in East Nusa Tenggara province followed dozens of smaller ones since March 13^th., the national geological agency said in a statement.

Jetstar, the low-cost subsidiary of Qantas Airways, cancelled its flights between Australia and Indonesia’s resort island of Bali on Friday morning because of the volcanic ash, but has announced that flights were expected to resume in the afternoon. A Bali airport spokesperson said the airport was still operating, with seven international flights cancelled on Friday morning and some domestic flights delayed. At least nine people were killed and thousands were evacuated when the Lewotobi Laki – Laki volcano erupted in November last year, pelting hot rocks and flowing lava.

It was not immediately clear how many residents were affected by Thursday’s eruption. Indonesian authorities had said that it aimed to permanently relocate them. The geological agency warned of lava floods and said there were smaller eruptions early on Friday. Indonesia has close to 130 active volcanoes and sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, an area of high seismic activity atop various tectonic plates.

Team Maverick