Mount Lewotobi Erupts

On June 17, Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki of East Flores Regency, East Nusa Tenggara Province in Indonesia erupted at 5:35 (local time), causing an evacuation of many villages, and cancelling flights to and from the resort destination, Bali. The 1,584 meter volcano is a twin volcano with Mount Lewotobi Perempuan in the Flores Timur district. Mount Lewotobi has erupted regularly and its danger level has changed many times. It erupted in November in 2024, and in March, 2025. It’s not quite a surprise for Indonesians, however, with Indonesia having regular seismic activity and 120 active volcanoes.

On Tuesday afternoon, Mount Lewotobi conjured up heavy gray clouds, soon forming a mushroom shape that loomed over the villages. On Tuesday evening to Wednesday afternoon, Mount Lewotobi released plumes of ash 5,000 feet into the air. It was Tuesday when an eruption warning was released to the people, advising them to head to high ground and travel about eight kilometers away from the eruption zone. Officers who were at the monitoring post about seven kilometers away from the eruption zone, also evacuated due to the danger of falling gravel.

The approximate estimate of the “danger zone” was somewhat accurate, but villages outside of the eight kilometer range like Boru, Hewa, and Watobuku, were hit with falling debris. The people of the Nurabelen village in the Ile Bura district, fled to Konga and the Nileknoheng village to escape the eruption. On Wednesday, countless flights were cancelled to and from Bali, due to the danger of ash to a plane’s engines. Flights were also cancelled to and from Labuan Bajo, yet another tourist destination. More than a thousand people were affected by the flight cancellation, especially since it’s the summer holidays. Airlines like Jetstar from Australia postponed their flights and gave passengers new flights. Thankfully, there were no casualties reported, unlike in November of 2024 when nine were killed, and countless were injured.

Athirah Rosli says, “I see that it’s a blessing in disguise that we’re safe and well,” after she and her husband discovered their flights from Bali to Singapore had been canceled. It really is better to have a cancelled flight rather than be caught in a volcano eruption.

Great work! Conclusion could be stronger.

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Sources: https://www.cnn.com/2025/06/18/travel/indonesia-mount-lewotobi-volcano-eruption-intl-hnk

https://apnews.com/article/mount-lewotobi-laki-laki-volcano-flights-evacuation-715833e2a789465788db802d912d61e7#:~:text=The%20volcano%20has%20had%20several,nine%20people%20and%20injured%20dozens.