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Indonesia's Lewotobi Laki-laki volcano erupts twice in 2 days, unleashing 6-mile-high ash cloud

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Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki erupted on Tuesday and Wednesday (June 17 and 18), unleashing gigantic ash plumes and showering villages with volcanic debris.

A giant ash plume from Mount Lewoboti Laki-laki in Indonesia. The ash appears orange.
Mount Lewoboti Laki-laki produced a huge column of ash that extended more than 6 miles into the sky. (Image credit: STR/AFP via Getty Images)

A volcano in Indonesia sent gigantic ash plumes into the sky during two eruptions on Tuesday (June 17) and Wednesday (June 18).

Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki first erupted at 5:35 p.m. local time (5:35 a.m. ET) on Tuesday, unleashing a mushroom-shaped ash cloud measuring more than 6 miles (10 kilometers) high, Indonesia's Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources said in a translated statement.

The cloud was visible up to 95 miles (150 km) from the volcano and showered nearby villages with debris, according to the statement. The eruption was accompanied by rumbling, lightning and thunder, which is typical of explosive eruptions that spew enormous amounts of material, officials said.

A second eruption shook Lewotobi Laki-laki on Wednesday, shooting more ash 3 miles (5 km) into the sky, the Associated Press reported.

No casualties have been reported from these eruptions.

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Lewotobi Laki-laki is one of two volcanic peaks on the Lewotobi edifice in Flores, an island in eastern Indonesia with about 2 million inhabitants. The other peak, Lewotobi Perempuan, is located less than 1.2 miles (2 km) away from Lewotobi Laki-laki and is currently less active. "Laki-laki" means "man" in Indonesian, while "perempuan" is a word for "woman" with somewhat derogatory connotations.

Ash column from an eruption of Mount Lewoboti Laki-laki in Indonesia.

Officials raised the eruption alert to the highest level after warning signs. (Image credit: STR/AFP via Getty Images)

Warning signs at Lewoboti Laki-laki prompted officials to raise the eruption alert to the highest level on Tuesday, according to the statement.

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Muhammad Wafid, the head of Indonesia's Geological Survey at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, ordered evacuations within a radius of about 4 miles (7 km) from the eruption center and in an area where there is a risk of lava flows due to heavy rain.

"We immediately deployed an Emergency Response Team to immediately be at the affected location to provide technical assistance," Wafid said in the statement.

Dozens of flights were canceled or delayed as a result of the eruptions.

An eruption of Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki in November 2024 killed at least 10 people. The volcano also erupted in March 2025.

Sascha Pare
Sascha Pare
Staff writer

Sascha is a U.K.-based staff writer at Live Science. She holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Southampton in England and a master’s degree in science communication from Imperial College London. Her work has appeared in The Guardian and the health website Zoe. Besides writing, she enjoys playing tennis, bread-making and browsing second-hand shops for hidden gems.

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