#volcanic-eruption

#volcanic-eruption

Authorities in Indonesia have raised the volcano emergency alert to its highest level after Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki erupted, spewing volcanic ash an estimated 10km (6.2 miles) into the sky. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage on Wednesday, but authorities have warned residents and tourists on the eastern Indonesian island of Flores to keep away from the mountain and prepare for possible evacuation.

For a while, Sam Vea had been smelling sulphur on the air only mildly infernal, like a distant sniff of hell, but sulphur nonetheless. Still, on the Saturday evening when the explosion happened, he sat up in fright. It sounded so near he thought some cataclysm had occurred right there, in his neighbourhood. The windows trembled. The curtains fell off. Vea peeked out of his house but saw nothing destroyed or on fire.

The latest lava blast started early Tuesday morning and lasted over 13 hours before suddenly stopping at 2:01am ET (8:01pm in Hawaii). During that time, lava shot up as high as 500 feet into the air, with the smoky cloud rising up to 10,000 feet above Hawaii's Big Island. This eruption produced a huge amount of lava, covering 40 to 50 percent of the bowl-shaped crater at the summit of Kilauea called Halemaʻumaʻu.

We're not out of the woods yet, by any means. There's still earthquakes happening at Mount Spurr.

When Mount St. Helens erupted on May 18, 1980, it caused enormous devastation, leading to significant changes in US volcanic monitoring and preparedness.

One of the advantages of being a small, locally owned business is that we can more quickly flex and pivot depending on local circumstances. And Alaska has a lot of weird circumstances.