A series of fresh eruptions from Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki in eastern Indonesia on Friday sent towering columns of ash into the atmosphere, forcing regional aviation authorities to temporarily shutter a local airport.

The primary eruption occurred at 11:15 am local time (03:15 GMT), hurling a massive plume of volcanic material 2.5 kilometers (1.6 miles) above the summit, according to an official statement from Indonesia's national volcanology agency. This mid-morning blast followed multiple earlier eruptions recorded throughout the morning.

Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki, located on Flores Island, currently remains under the country's second-highest volcanic alert level. A strict five-kilometer exclusion zone is strictly enforced around the active crater.

In tandem with the aerial ash hazards, the volcanology agency issued a safety warning to local populations settled near riverbanks, advising residents to stay highly vigilant for "lahars"—dangerous, rapid-moving mudflows of volcanic debris that can be triggered instantly if heavy rainfall sweeps over the mountain.

The intense ash dispersion triggered immediate security protocols for regional travel. Airport operations were entirely suspended in the town of Maumere, located roughly 60 kilometers west of the volcano.

Partahian Panjaitan, the head of the local airport, told AFP that the temporary closure has directly impacted five domestic flights.

The 1,584-meter (5,197-foot) volcano holds a culturally unique name, as Laki-Laki translates directly to "man" in Indonesian. It forms a geographical pair with a neighboring, noticeably calmer 1,703-meter volcano named Perempuan, the Indonesian word for "woman."

The twin peaks are historically volatile. Last July, Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki unleashed a colossal 18-kilometer ash tower that blanketed the region, disrupting broader transit networks and causing the cancellation of 24 flights on the highly popular resort island of Bali.

As a massive archipelago nation positioned squarely on the Pacific "Ring of Fire," Indonesia regularly encounters intense seismic and volcanic tremors from its network of highly active fault lines.

Source: AFP