Indonesia’s Lewotobi Volcano erupts again, new danger alert issued – Reports

MOSCOW, January 10 (Sputnik) – Indonesian authorities have raised the alert status at Lewotobi volcano to the highest level, as it spewed ash as high as 1.2 miles into the air, Indonesian media reported on Wednesday.

The eruption started after weeks of heightened volcanic activity on the mountain located on the island of Flores in eastern Indonesia, prompting the local government to order the evacuation of nearby villages. On January 1, the Centre for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation raised the danger status of the volcano from second to third.

The agency has declared alert level 4 as the volcanic activity of the mountain is increasing, the Antara news agency reported.

People living around Lewotobi and tourists are not allowed to carry out any activities within a four-kilometer (2.5-mile) radius around the center of the eruption and a sectoral area five kilometers northwest of the volcano.

Volcanic ash from recent eruptions has reportedly affected two areas near Lewotobi, prompting more than 2,200 residents to be evacuated to temporary shelters set up by local authorities.

Indonesia is located in the Pacific Ring of Fire, a region which is particularly prone to tectonic activity and earthquakes. This 40,000 kilometer strip of volcanoes and tectonic faults encircles the Pacific Ocean, stretching along the coasts of South and North America to the southern regions of Alaska then turning toward Japan, the Philippines and Indonesia, and ending in the area of New Guinea, New Zealand and the south-western part of Oceania. About 90% of the world’s approximately 1,500 known volcanoes are located in the Pacific Ring of Fire. About 90% of earthquakes occur in this region.