NASA Images Show Ash Pouring From Indonesia Volcano After Decades of Calm

In the wake of several eruptions that claimed at least ten lives and injured dozens of others, NASA images have captured smoke and ash billowing from Indonesia’s Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki.
Lewotobi Laki-laki, a volcano on the Indonesian island of Flores, has been erupting nearly every day since December 2023 following a long twenty-year period of quiet.
The volcano erupted violently on November 4 this year, sending hot ash up to 6,500 feet into the sky and up to 4 miles from the volcano. Much of this ash, as well as molten debris, fell on surrounding villages, causing buildings to collapse and catch fire.
Over 2,000 houses were damaged in the aftermath of the eruption, affecting around 10,000 residents, with nine people reported to have been killed.
In the weeks since, the volcano has erupted several more times, images of which were captured on camera by OLI-2 (Operational Land Imager-2) on Landsat 9.
In a NASA image, ash can be seen pouring from Laki-laki on November 13, in the wake of an eruption that sent ash 3,900 feet into the air, according to Indonesia’s Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation Center (PVMBG).
“Magma is primarily generated in the mantle, where temperatures and pressures are high enough to partially melt rock,” David Kitchen, an associate professor of geology at the University of Richmond, Virginia, told Newsweek.
“Divergent plate boundaries allow the mantle to decompress as the tectonic plates move apart. This decompression lowers the melting point of mantle rocks, facilitating partial melting. The melt, being less dense than the surrounding solid rock, begins to rise towards the surface.”
Prior eruptions on November 7 and November 9 resulted in ash plumes 56,000 feet and 49,000 feet high, respectively.
Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki is one of two twin volcanic mountains, alongside Mount Lewotobi Perempuan, which lies only about a mile away. The more active Lewotobi Laki-laki stands approximately 5,200 feet above sea level, while Lewotobi Perempuan towers above it at about 5,600 feet.
The eruptions have had widespread impacts, including the closure of airports due to ash clouds that posed risks to aviation. Between November 4 and November 13, more than 160 flights to and from Bali were canceled across Indonesia due to ash-related hazards, with 90 flights canceled on November 13 alone.
Volcanic ash is made up of tiny, hard particles of rock, glass, and minerals. When ash enters a jet engine, the high temperatures can cause the particles to melt, and then solidify on cooler parts of the engine, which may clog or damage the turbine blades, reducing engine efficiency or even causing engine failure. The 1982 eruption of Mount Galunggung in Indonesia caused a British Airways flight to lose all four engines temporarily after flying through an ash cloud. The flight eventually landed safely with all 263 people onboard unhurt.
Indonesia is home to some of the most volcanically active regions in the world, thanks to its location on the Pacific Ring of Fire. The country has around 130 active volcanoes, more than any other nation.
Nearly 5,000 eruptions have been recorded across Indonesia since January, according to Indonesia’s Center for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation, nearly 900 of which were Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki alone.
One of Indonesia’s most active volcanoes, Mount Merapi, also recently erupted on October 27. No casualties were reported. Merapi killed 24 climbers when it erupted in December 2023.
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