[The Epoch Times, 4 Samhain, 2024](Full report by Epoch Times reporter Xia Yu) On Monday (November 4), Indonesian officials said the Lakiraki volcano erupted at midnight Sunday, spewing columns of explosive lava as high as 2,000 meters. meters, forcing authorities to evacuate several nearby towns, but still causing many deaths.
Hadi Wijaya, spokesman for the Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation Center (PVMBG), said on Monday that the Mount Lakiraki volcano on Flores Island in the East Nusa Tenggara province of Lewotobi Laki-laki erupted at 23:57 local time on Sunday, a ‘spitting brown fire. columns of lava, ash and hot rocks.
“After the volcano erupted, there was a power outage, then there was rain, there was thunder and lightning, and the residents were shocked,” he told Reuters.
He said that authorities had raised the level of the volcano to level four, or the highest level. The agency recommended that people within a seven-kilometer (4.35-mile) radius be evacuated.
Hot lava and rocks hit the nearest settlement about four kilometers (two miles) from the crater, burning and damaging homes, Hardy said.
On November 4, 2024, after the eruption of the Lakiraki volcano in Indonesia, a building collapsed in a nearby village.(ARNOLD WELIANTO/AFP)
Heronimus Lamawuran, a local official in the East Flores region, said that at least nine people had died as of Monday morning and that the eruption had affected seven villages.
“We started evacuating residents this morning to other towns about 20 kilometers (13 miles) away from the crater,” he said.
Hieronymus said that the towns closest to the volcano were covered in thick ash on Monday morning.
The Associated Press reported that the Lakiraki volcano erupted at midnight on Sunday, sending thick brown ash as high as 2,000 meters (6,500 feet) and hot volcanic ash engulfing a nearby town and burning several houses, which ‘ including a convent of Catholic nuns.
Disaster management authorities lowered the known death toll from an earlier report of nine, saying they had received the latest information from local authorities. The group said that information about casualties and the extent of the damage was still being collected, and the local media reported that more people were buried in collapsed houses.
Authorities are still collecting data on evacuees and damaged buildings.
On November 4, 2024, after the eruption of the Lakiraki volcano in Indonesia,Rescuers carry the bodies of victims. (ARNOLD WELIANTO/AFP)
Indonesia is located on the “Pacific Ring of Fire”, an area with frequent seismic activity located on many tectonic plates.
The eruption follows a series of volcanic eruptions in Indonesia. In May, a volcano erupted on Mount Ibu on the remote island of Halmahera, resulting in the evacuation of seven villages.
North Sulawesi’s Ruang volcano also erupted in May, forcing authorities to evacuate more than 12,000 people.
After heavy rain on May 11, flash floods and cold lava flows in Mount Marapi, West Sumatra Province, covered several nearby areas, killing more than 60 people.
Editor-in-Chief: Ye Ziwei #
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2024-11-04 06:43:00
