Lembata Area Rain Ash Eruption Mount Lewotolok

Mount Ile Lewotolok (center) in Lembata is lined with Mount Ile Boleng (front) on Adonara Island, East Flores, NTT. Aerial photo. (Bernadus Tokan / Antara)

JAKARTA - The Center for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation (PVMBG) reported that ash and gravel rain began to pour down parts of Lembata Regency, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) due to the eruption of Mount Ili Lewotolok.

Reported by Antara, Sunday, November 29, the ash rain mainly occurred in the western to southern sectors of the volcano, forcing residents to independently evacuate to Lewoleba to avoid the ash rain, said the Head of Sub-Division of Volcano Mitigation for the Eastern Region of ESDM, Devy Kamil Syahbana, Sunday.

"Yes, the current eruption is 4,000 meters above the peak, higher than before. Magmatic activity is still high in Lewotolok. Ash rain occurs, mainly in the western to southern sectors of the volcano," he said.

Regarding the threat, he said for now the main danger threat is in the form of falling volcanic material, ranging in size from gravel to ash.

He appealed to the public to wear masks and temporarily get out of the radius of danger.

Currently the Center for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation is preparing a new evaluation which is likely to be released sometime in the future.

Mount Ili Lewotolok or Ile Ape is a type of stratovolcano volcano located in the northern part of Lembata Island, Lembata Regency, East Nusa Tenggara Province.

The mountain has an altitude of 1,423 meters above sea level since October 7 2017 and has been raised to alert status because there is an increase in seismicity associated with magma movement, namely Local Tectonic (TL), Deep Volcanic (VA) and Shallow Volcanic (VB) earthquakes.

However, after a significant increase, the eruption did not occur because the pressure was not sufficient.

"Well, over time the pressure continues to accumulate and now it is enough to erupt," he explained.

Eruption History

The history of the eruption of Mount Lewotolok was recorded since 1660 then in 1819 and 1849. Furthermore, in 1939 and 1951 there was an increase in the volcanic activity of Mount Lewotolok.

The eruption of Mount Lewotolok was in the form of a burst of incandescent lava, ash, hot clouds and gusts of poisonous gas. This volcano had experienced an earthquake crisis in January 2012.

At that time the PVMBG upgraded the mount's status from normal to alert to alert, in just under a month.

However, on 25 January 2012 at 16.00 WITA, PVMBG lowered its status from standby to alert and dropped again to normal status on 17 October 2013 at 10.00 WITA