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At least nine people have lost their lives and many more are trapped within the debris of their houses in Indonesia’s Flores Island as an active volcano erupted yesterday, on November 3.
Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki, the volcanic mountain situated in East Nusa Tenggara province, spewed molten rocks and ash which hit the houses in the villages situated downhill, resulting in casualties and damage to property.
In the wake of the disaster, the Indonesian disaster management authority has categorised the volcanic activity to level four which is the highest level denoted to volcanoes.
“After the eruption, there was power outage and then it was raining and big lightning which caused panic among residents,” Hadi Wijaya, a spokesperson for The Center of Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation (PVMBG), told Reuters.
The agency has recommended that a seven-kilometre radius around the volcano must be cleared which has resulted in mass evacuation in several villages in proximity with the volcano.
The extent of destruction from the volcanic eruption can be gauged from the fact that the fiery lava and incandescent rocks have hit houses situated as far as four kilometres from the volcano.
Indonesian authorities have informed the press that at least 10,000 people have been affected by the eruption in the six nearby villages of Pululera, Nawokote, Hokeng Jaya, Klatanlo, Boru and Boru Kedang.
The volcano is part of a twin-volcano system that the local residents perceive as male and female mountains. The ongoing volcanic eruption has occurred at the male counterpart of the system (Lewotobi Lakilaki) while the female mountain is known as Lewotobi Perempuan.
The two mountains are classified as stratovolcanoes which are the most commonly occurring volcanoes around the world and are formed by the layers of lava that repeatedly oozes out of the crater.
It is not uncommon for Indonesia to witness such volcanic eruptions as it is situated along the famous ‘Ring of Fire’ in the Pacific region — an encirclement dotted by active volcanoes that sit on top of vigorous tectonic plates that often collide and lead to seismic activity causing earthquakes and tsunamis.
In May, this year, 60 Indonesian lives were lost when cold lava from an eruption at Mount Marapi inundated several villages in the West Sumatra province.