In early November 2024, a series of explosive, deadly eruptions occurred at Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki—a volcano on the Indonesian island of Flores. A particularly strong eruption on November 3 sent hot ash as high as 2,000 meters (6,500 feet) into the air around midnight, some of which fell on several surrounding villages.
Mount Lewotobi is composed of the two adjacent stratovolcanoes: Laki-Laki and Perempuan (the "husband and wife"), which lie less than 2 kilometers apart. Volcanic material from the November 3 eruption fell as far as 6 kilometers (4 miles) from Laki-Laki’s crater, affecting more than 10,000 people, according to Indonesia’s National Disaster Management Agency. Several smaller eruptions followed on November 5-6.
The false-color image above (right), acquired by the OLI-2 (Operational Land Imager-2) on Landsat 9, shows Laki-Laki on November 5, 2024. The landscape to the west of the crater was darkened by ash fallout from the recent eruptions. The other image (left) shows the same area on October 12, 2024.
The latest eruptions were a continuation of about ten months of eruptive activity at Laki-Laki. Ash plumes from these eruptions have often drifted west of the edifice. In August and September 2024, wind carried ash to the island’s Frans Xavier Seda Airport, about 84 kilometers (52 miles) west, forcing officials to temporarily close it, according to news reports.
The country’s volcano monitoring agency reported on November 3 that volcanic activity had increased in the days preceding the strong eruption. On November 1, there were 119 deep volcanic earthquakes, whereas the week prior saw an average of 10-12 per day.
The conical Laki-Laki has been frequently active during the 19th and 20th centuries, while the taller and broader Perempuan erupted most recently in 1921 and 1935.
NASA Earth Observatory images by Lauren Dauphin, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey. Story by Emily Cassidy.
