Many flights to Indonesia's Bali cancelled after volcano eruption
Several flights to the Indonesian resort island of Bali were cancelled and the airport in Maumere in East Nusa Tenggara province was closed due to the eruption of Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki, officials said on Wednesday.
Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki, located in East Nusa Tenggara province, erupted on Tuesday, spewing ash 11 km (6.84 miles) high and prompting the country's volcanology agency to raise the alert level to the highest.
It erupted again on Wednesday morning, belching a 1 km (0.62 mile) high ash cloud, the agency said in a statement.
Several international flights from India, Singapore and Australia to Bali were cancelled due to the eruption, according to the Bali international airport website.
The government closed the Fransiskus Xaverius Seda Airport in Maumere from Wednesday until Thursday 'to ensure the safety of the passengers,' airport operator AirNav said in an Instagram post.
The eruption also forced local authorities to evacuate dozens of residents living in two villages near the volcano, said Avi Hallan, an official at the local disaster mitigation agency.
'Streets in the two villages were filled with thick ash, gravel, and sand,' she said, adding that no casualties were reported.
The volcano last erupted in May.
Indonesia sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, an area of high seismic activity atop multiple tectonic plates.
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Many Flights to Indonesia's Bali Cancelled after Volcano Eruption
Several flights to the Indonesian resort island of Bali were cancelled or delayed and the airport in Maumere in East Nusa Tenggara province was closed due to the eruption of Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki, officials said on Wednesday. Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki, which is in East Nusa Tenggara province, erupted on Tuesday, spewing ash 11 km (6.84 miles) high, forcing the country's volcanology agency to raise the alert level to the highest. It erupted again on Wednesday morning, belching a 1 km (0.62 mile) high ash cloud, the agency said in a statement. Several international flights from India, Singapore and Australia to Bali were cancelled due to the eruption, the Bali international airport website showed. Singapore Airlines cancelled four flights between Bali's Denpasar airport and Singapore, and its budget subsidiary Scoot cancelled flights to Bali and the neighboring island Lombok, the airlines said. Qantas' low-cost carrier JetStar cancelled several morning flights to Bali from Australia and expects afternoon flights to be delayed. "Forecasts show the ash cloud is expected to clear by later tonight," JetStar said in a midday travel bulletin. The government closed the Fransiskus Xaverius Seda airport in Maumere from Wednesday until Thursday "to ensure the safety of the passengers," said the airport operator AirNav in its Instagram post. The eruption also forced local authorities to evacuate dozens of residents living in two villages near the volcano, Avi Hallan, an official at the local disaster mitigation agency told Reuters. "Streets in the two villages were filled with thick ash, gravel, and sand," she said, adding no casualties were reported. The volcano last erupted in May. Indonesia sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, an area of high seismic activity atop multiple tectonic plates.
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LEMBATA, Indonesia: Indonesia's Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki erupted with giant ash and smoke plumes again Wednesday after forcing evacuations of villages and flight cancelations, including to and from the resort island of Bali. Several eruptions sent ash up to 5,000 meters (16,400 feet) into the sky Tuesday evening to Wednesday afternoon. An eruption Tuesday afternoon sent thick, gray clouds 10,000 meters (about 32,800 feet) into the sky that expanded into a mushroom-shaped ash cloud visible as much as 150 kilometers (nearly 93 miles) away. The eruption alert was raised Tuesday to the highest level and the danger zone where people are recommended to leave was expanded to 8 kilometers (about 5 miles) from the crater. Officers also evacuated from the Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki monitoring post 7 kilometers (4.3 miles) from the crater to avoid falling gravel released in the eruption. No casualties have been reported. Ash and debris fell in a number of places outside the danger zone, including the villages of Boru, Hewa and Watobuku. Some residents from Nurabelen village in Ile Bura subdistrict fled to evacuation sites in Konga to avoid the impact of the eruption, the National Disaster Management Agency said in a statement. 'Some residents have also evacuated to Nileknoheng village, which is 12 kilometers (7.4 miles) from the crater,' said Abdul Muhari, the National Disaster Management Agency's spokesperson. Dozens of flights Wednesday were canceled, including those connecting Bali to cities in Australia, Malaysia, India and China, according to the website of Bali's I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport. Volcanic ash can pose a risk to plane engines. Flights also were canceled to and from the international airport in Labuan Bajo another tourist destination in Flores Island, East Nusa Tenggara province. The airport is still operating. The cancelations and delays affected thousands of travelers. Australian carrier Jetstar, which flies daily between the tourist hotspot and several Australian cities, said the ash cloud was forecast to clear by late Wednesday and its services would be rescheduled. Air New Zealand canceled one return trip to Auckland and would rebook customers on the next available service, the airline said in a statement Wednesday. Flights to New Delhi, Singapore and Pudong, China, were also canceled due to the volcano, according to information on the website for Denpasar airport in Bali. The 1,584-meter (5,197-foot) Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki is a twin volcano with Mount Lewotobi Perempuan in the district of Flores Timur. The volcano has had several eruptions, and its danger level and no-go zone have changed several times before being raised again to the highest level Tuesday. An eruption of Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki in November killed nine people and injured dozens. It also erupted in March. Indonesia is an archipelago of 270 million people with frequent seismic activity. It has 120 active volcanoes and sits along the 'Ring of Fire,' a horseshoe-shaped series of seismic fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.
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Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki in Indonesia's East Nusa Tenggara province erupted on Tuesday, spewing a towering ash cloud 11 kilometers (6.8 miles) high, the country's volcanology agency said. The agency also said it had raised the alert level of the volcano to the most dangerous, warning of potential lava flows if it heavily rains. Lewotobi Laki-laki's last eruption was in May when authorities also raised the level to the most severe. Images shared by the agency on Tuesday showed an orange ash cloud in the shape of a mushroom engulfing a nearby village. It is not immediately clear if there have been flight disruptions. When Lewotobi Laki-laki erupted in March, airlines were forced to cancel and delay flights into Bali, including Australia's Jetstar and Qantas Airways. Indonesia's search and rescue agency, as well as its disaster mitigation agency, which oversees evacuation, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Indonesia sits on the 'Pacific Ring of Fire', an area of high seismic activity atop multiple tectonic plates.
