The Life-Threatening Volcanic Eruption in Indonesia

The volcanic eruption of Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki in Indonesia caused thousands of civilians to flee the place. The fiery red column of lava and hot billows of thick grey ash emerged from craters, killing and injuring a large number of the population. After its first eruption on Sunday, 3rd November, on the island of Flores in the province of East Nusa Tenggara, smaller eruptions befell for the next two days. Volcanic materials, including smoldering stones, lava, and hot, thumb-size fragments of ash and gravel were thrown up to 7 kilometers from the crater on Monday. Later that week, on Thursday, 7th November, 8 eruptions took place, spewing a plume of volcanic ash up to 8,000 m (26,250 ft) high, as the government scrambled to build homes for victims of an eruption that killed nine, injured 63, and damaged at least 2,384 houses, 25 schools, and a convent on the majority-Catholic island. 

On Tuesday, the Indonesian government evacuated at least 16,086 residents from eight villages around the active Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki.

The spokesperson of East Flores regional government said, "[w]e plan to temporarily evacuate the residents until it's safe for them to return to their villages. We deployed more trucks along with military and police personnel to help evacuations on Tuesday, but the evacuations were being hampered by thick volcanic ash on some roads, making it hard to move residents easily".

The local government has declared a state of emergency for the next 58 days, promising aid to the residents from the central government. Four small airports on Flores Island have been closed due to the eruption. Travel advisories have been issued in Indonesia after the volcanic eruption. FCDO [Foreign, Commonwealth, & Development Office] now advises against all travel within 7km of the crater of Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki on Flores Island, East Nusa Tenggara Province. Travelers will be warned about the volcanoes and taken to safety. Any activity in that area is strictly prohibited.

The power outage that followed the eruption caused panic among residents. This power outage was then accompanied by heavy rains and rapid lightning. Amid this panic, the authority of the volcano monitoring agency increased Lewotobi Laki Laki's alert status to the highest level (level IV), and more than doubled the exclusion zone to a 7-kilometer radius, proving it to be deadly.

Indonesia sits on the "Pacific Ring of Fire", a horseshoe-shaped series of seismic fault lines around the Pacific Ocean, an area of high seismic activity atop multiple tectonic plates. This eruption follows a series of eruptions of different volcanoes in Indonesia. Lewotobi Laki Laki is one of the 120 active volcanoes in Indonesia, an archipelago of 280 million people. The country is prone to earthquakes, landslides, and volcanic activity.

Talking a little about Indonesia’s history with landslides and eruptions, it has been noted that in May, a volcano on the remote island of Halmahera, Mount Ibu, caused the evacuation of people from seven villages. North Sulawesi's Ruang volcano has also erupted in May and prompted authorities to evacuate more than 12,000 people. The volcanology center also said another volcano, Mount Marapi in West Sumatra province — one of the country’s most active volcanoes — erupted again on Thursday, spewing thick columns of ash at least three times and blanketing nearby villages with debris. No casualties were reported, but all these events have caused the residents to fear living anywhere near volcanic sites, making it dangerous for the population and hard for the authorities to maintain their economic cycle and host a safe living environment.