Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki Status Downgraded from Alert to Caution Today
Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki in East Flores Regency, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), has seen its status downgraded from Level III (Alert) to Level II (Caution). This change in status became effective today, Wednesday (16/09/2026), at 08:00 WITA.
The Head of the Geological Agency, Lana Saria, stated that the decision was made after monitoring results showed that the volcanic activity of Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki has tended to decrease through mid-September 2026.
“The decrease in volcanic activity is evidenced by the reduction in surface eruption activity, the absence of recorded eruption earthquakes since the beginning of September, a decrease in several types of seismicity in the shallow zone, and no observed inflation patterns based on GNSS deformation and tiltmeter observations,” Lana said in an official statement on Wednesday.
However, Lana continued, activity within the body of the volcano is still ongoing, and the potential for eruption remains, albeit on a smaller scale. Visually, eruption activity has decreased compared to the previous period.
“An eruption with an ash column height of approximately 2,500 metres above the peak occurred on 27 August 2026 at 08:30 WITA, followed by the most recent eruption on 31 August 2026 at 12:53 WITA, which produced an eruption column of about 300 metres above the peak,” he added.
Lana noted that until the evaluation period in mid-September, no further eruption activity was observed. However, during the early September period, surface activity was dominated by white smoke from the main crater rim with low to moderate intensity, reaching heights of approximately 50-200 metres from the peak.
“Drone monitoring results from 10 September 2026 show the crater is clearly visible. Based on aerial photography, no lava blockage was observed in the crater area of the Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki peak. This condition indicates that the crater remains relatively open and there are no indications of lava blockage formation that could cause significant pressure accumulation in the upper conduit,” he explained.
Lana mentioned that eruption earthquakes have not been recorded since 1 September 2026, and blast and low-frequency earthquakes tend to be decreasing, while non-harmonic tremors show no significant increase.
“Comprehensive analysis and evaluation results show that the activity of Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki tends to be decreasing. Eruption activity has declined, and drone monitoring does not show any lava blockage in the crater. Seismic data does not show a significant increase in earthquake energy, and GNSS deformation data has not shown inflation that would indicate increased pressure within the body of the volcano,” he concluded.