Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki spews ash

In early November 2024, a series of explosive, deadly eruptions occurred at Lewotobi Laki-Laki, a volcano on the Indonesian island of Flores. A particularly strong eruption on November 3rd around midnight ejected hot ash up to 2,000 meters into the air, some of which fell on several surrounding villages.

Mount Lewotobi consists of two neighboring stratovolcanoes, Laki-Laki and Perempuan (“husband and wife”), located less than 2 kilometers apart. According to Indonesia’s National Disaster Management Agency, volcanic material from the Nov. 3 eruption fell up to six kilometers (4 miles) from the Laki Laki crater and affected more than 10,000 people. Several smaller eruptions followed on November 5th and 6th.

The false-color image above (right), taken by OLI-2 (Operational Land Imager-2) on Landsat 9, shows Laki-Laki on November 5, 2024. The landscape west of the crater was obscured by ash fallout from the recent eruptions. The other image (left) shows the same area on October 12, 2024.

The recent eruptions were a continuation of approximately ten months of eruption activity at Laki-Laki. Ash clouds from these eruptions often traveled west of the building. In August and September 2024, winds carried ash to Frans Airport, about 84 kilometers (52 miles) to the west

The country’s volcano monitoring agency reported on November 3 that volcanic activity had increased in the days before the powerful eruption. There were 119 deep volcanic earthquakes on November 1, compared to an average of 10-12 per day the week before.

The conical Laki-Laki was frequently active in the 19th and 20th centuries, while the taller and broader Perempuan last erupted in 1921 and 1935.

NASA Earth Observatory images by Lauren Dauphin using US Geological Survey Landsat data. Story by Emily Cassidy.