MAUMERE, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki erupted again Thursday, spewing a column of hot clouds that rose 2,500 meters (8,200 feet) from the summit, three days after an eruption at midnight killed nine people and injured dozens of others.
There were no immediate reports of casualties from the latest eruption.
The 1,584 meter high volcano is standing that of Indonesia the remote island of Flores released clouds of glowing gray ash on Thursday. The mixture of rock, lava and gas was ejected up to 1 kilometer (0.6 mile) from the crater, the Indonesian Center for Volcanology and Disaster Management said in a statement.
The volcano has since gone dormant Monday’s deadly eruption killed nine people and injured 64 others.
Monday’s eruption affected more than 10,000 people in 10 villages. About 4,400 villagers moved into makeshift emergency shelters after the eruption, which destroyed seven schools, nearly 20 homes and a monastery on the predominantly Catholic island.
That of the country volcano The supervisory agency raised the alert status of Lewotobi Laki Laki to the highest level and has since more than doubled the exclusion zone to a radius of 7 kilometers (4.3 miles), banning any activity in that area.
Authorities warned the thousands of people who fled not to return home as the government planned to move about 16,000 residents out of harm’s way, said Suharyanto, head of the National Disaster Management Agency, who like many Indonesians goes by a single name used.
“Permanent relocation is considered a long-term mitigation measure to anticipate eruptions in the future,” Suharyanto told reporters on Thursday after visiting the devastated areas.
Lewotobi Laki Laki is one of a pair of stratovolcanoes in the East Flores district of East Nusa Tenggara province, known locally as the Man and Woman Mountains. ‘Laki laki’ means man, while his partner is Lewotobi Perempuan, or woman.
About 6,500 people were evacuated in January after Mount Lewotobi Laki began erupting, it caused thick clouds and forced the government to close the island’s Fransiskus Xaverius Seda Airport. No casualties or major damage were reported, but the airport has since been closed due to seismic activity.
On October 27, West Sumatra province Mount Marapi – one of the country’s most active volcanoes – erupted, spewing thick columns of ash at least three times and covering nearby villages with rubble. No casualties have been reported.
Lewotobi Laki Laki is one of 120 active volcanoes in Indonesia, an archipelago with 280 million inhabitants. The country is prone to earthquakes, landslides and volcanic activity because it lies along the ‘Ring of Fire’, a horseshoe-shaped series of seismic fault lines around the Pacific Ocean.
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Karmini reported from Jakarta. Associated Press journalists Edna Tarigan and Andi Jatmiko contributed to this report.