Geological Agency Expands Hazard Radius Of Mount Lewotobi Men

JAKARTA - The danger zone or prohibition for people to move around Mount Lewotobi Male in East Flores Regency was expanded by the Geological Agency of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) due to an upward trend in volcanic activity and an increase in volcanic earthquakes.

Head of the Geological Agency of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources Muhammad Wafid said that from the results of visual monitoring and seismicity, it also shows the potential for eruptions to occur in the future.

"Based on the results of a thorough analysis and evaluation of visual and instrumental monitoring, visual and seismic activity on Mount Lewotobi Men has increased, so that the level of male Lewotobi Mountain activity is still set at Level II (ALERT)," he said as quoted by ANTARA, Wednesday, February 12.

Communities around Mount Lewotobi Men and visitors or tourists are asked not to carry out any activities within a radius of five kilometers from the eruption center of Mount Lewotobi Male and sectoral southwest - north - northeast as far as six km.

Previously, people around Mount Lewotobi Male and tourist visitors were asked not to carry out any activities within a four-kilometer radius of the eruption center of Mount Lewotobi Male and sectoral southwest - north - northeast as far as five km.

He also appealed to residents to be calm and follow the direction of local governments and not to believe in issues whose sources are not clear.

People around Mount Lewotobi Men are aware of the potential for rain lava flooding in rivers that originate at the top of Mount Lewotobi Men in the event of high-intensity rain, especially the Dulipali area, Padang Pasir, Nobo, Klatanlo, Hokeng Jaya, Boru, Nawakote.

"People affected by the ash rain of Mount Lewotobi Male should wear a mask or nose covering to avoid the danger of volcanic ash in the respiratory system," he said.

Meanwhile, in visual observations and seismicity of Mount Lewotobi, the man on February 5-12, 2025, the volcano was clearly visible until it was covered in fog.

Observed the smoke of the main crater is white and gray with a thin, medium to thick intensity of about 50-400 meters from the summit. The weather is sunny to rainy, the wind is weak to moderate to the north and northeast.

The air temperature is about 21-30 degrees Celsius. The eruption earthquake was hit, but visually the height of the eruption and the color of the ash were not observed.

The types of earthquakes recorded during the period 5-12 February 2025, namely four eruption earthquakes, 144 gusts, 41 harmonic earthquakes, seven low frequency earthquakes, 12 deep volcanic earthquakes, five local tectonic earthquakes, 35 distant tectonic earthquakes, and one flood vibration.

Visual observations for the period 5-12 February 2025, show that the volcanic activity of Mount Lewotobi Male is fluctuating, the average height of the eruption column is 200-400 meters and is often not observed due to fog.

"There is still a faint fire beam around the peak indicating that lava is pushed to the surface, so it can be observed at night that there is a red glow in the peak area," he said.

Furthermore, during this period, gust earthquakes experienced a slight increase indicating pressure from within began to increase.

The gust smoke in the area around the peak on the northwest side which forms like a fracture tends to be thin-thick, while the solfatara penetrate on the northeastern side looks thin. The presence of crater smoke (solfatara) is caused by the presence of an alternation zone (Zona weak), so that softara smoke can be seen coming out of the area.

"This area can potentially occur direct blasts (direct eruptions in a direction) that can occur to the northwest-northeast from Mount Lewotobi Male," he said.