A massive ash tower was thrown into the sky by a volcano in eastern Indonesia on Thursday night ( Nov 7 ), sending residents fleeing in panic.
Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki erupted on Monday , and Tuesday, killing nine citizens and forcing the evacuation of people from a 7km isolation area.
The country’s seismology company reported seven explosions on Thursday, the biggest of which, according to an observation post, belched an ash tower 8 km higher.
Some people claimed that this was Lewotobi Laki-Laki’s largest volcano they had ever seen.
” This is the first day I saw this large volcano since I’ve been living in Lewolaga village”, said Anastasia Adriyani, 41, who lives outside the isolation area.
” I was cooking at the community kitchen ( for evacuees ) and when it happened, I ran back home. I was pretty scared”.
Officials have raised the risk of the 1,703m twin-peaked mountain on the holiday island of Flores to the highest degree.
There were no immediate reports of destruction to local villages from Thursday’s new explosions.
However, a journalist for AFP reported that residents and children were seen running away from their homes, adding that geological thunder was also visible.