Thousands of people have been evacuated as a rumbling Indonesian volcano burst to life for the first time in several years, belching a massive column of smoke and ash.
The evacuation of more than 4,400 residents came as Mount Ili Lewotolok erupted yesterday, spouting a thick tower of debris 4km into the sky, triggering a flight warning and the closure of a local airport.
The crater's last major eruption was in 2017.
There were no reports of injuries or damage from the eruption in a remote part of the southeast Asian archipelago.
But authorities advised residents to wear masks to protect themselves from volcanic ash spouting from the crater in East Nusa Tenggara - the southernmost province of Indonesia - and to be alert for possible lava flows.
Indonesia's Mount Ili Lewotolok erupted, sending a plume of smoke and ash thousands of feet into the sky. The eruption led to the closure of the local airport and authorities raised the volcano’s alert status to its second-highest level warning of potential lava flows. pic.twitter.com/Nt61kBxA4m
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) November 30, 2020
A 2km no-go zone around the crater was also expanded to 4km after the eruption, while flights were advised to steer clear of the area as volcanic ash rained down on the local Wunopitu airport, which was temporarily closed.
Indonesia is home to about 130 active volcanoes due to its position on the "Ring of Fire", a belt of tectonic plate boundaries circling the Pacific Ocean where frequent seismic activity occurs.
In late 2018, a volcano in the strait between Java and Sumatra islands erupted, causing an underwater landslide that unleashed a tsunami which killed more than 400 people.
