Bali flights cancelled after Indonesia volcano eruption


By AFP
June 17, 2025


Indonesia's Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki volcano erupts - Copyright AFP STR

At least two dozen flights to and from the Indonesian resort island of Bali have been cancelled, its international airport website showed Wednesday, after a volcano in the archipelago’s east erupted, shooting an ash tower 10 kilometres into the sky.

Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki, a 1,703-metre (5,587-foot) twin-peaked volcano on the eastern tourist island of Flores, erupted on Tuesday, with authorities raising its alert status to the highest level.

The flights cancelled included Jetstar and Virgin Australia flights to cities across Australia, with Air India, Air New Zealand, Singapore’s TigerAir and China’s Juneyao Airlines also cancelling flights “due to volcano”, Bali’s international airport website said.

Several domestic AirAsia flights leaving for Labuan Bajo on Flores were also cancelled.

“Ngurah Rai is still operating normally but it depends on the flight schedule, but some of the flights are cancelled due to a volcano. It depends on the route and also the airline,” a Bali airport customer service agent who declined to give their name told AFP.

Volcanic ash rained down on several villages around Lewotobi Laki-Laki and forced the evacuation of at least one village late Tuesday, the country’s disaster mitigation agency said.

There were no immediate reports of damages or casualties.

In November, Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki erupted multiple times, killing nine people, cancelling scores of international flights to the tourist island of Bali and forcing thousands to evacuate.

Laki-Laki, which means “man” in Indonesian, is twinned with a calmer volcano named after the Indonesian word for “woman”.

Indonesia, a vast archipelago nation, experiences frequent seismic and volcanic activity due to its position on the Pacific “Ring of Fire.”


One dead after 6.1-magnitude earthquake in Peru


ByAFP
June 15, 2025


Dust billowed out of a landslide in the capital Lima, where one person was killed when a wall fell on his vehicle - Copyright GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP JUSTIN SULLIVAN

A 6.1-magnitude earthquake struck Peru Sunday, killing one person and triggering landslides, officials said.

The quake hit shortly before noon and was centered around 30 kilometers (20 miles) from Callao, a port city next to the capital Lima, the National Seismological Center said. The US Geological Survey put the magnitude at 5.6.

Peru said the tremor had not generated a tsunami warning.

A man died in Lima when a wall fell on the car he was driving, the National Police said.

In addition, the Emergency Operations Center reported five injuries in Lima.

President Dina Boluarte called for “calm” from citizens, noting that there was no tsunami warning for the South American country’s Pacific coastline.

The TV channel Latina showed footage of landslides in several areas of the capital city.

The quake also prompted a suspension of a major football game being played in Lima.

Peru is home to 34 million people and lies on the so-called Ring of Fire, a stretch of intense seismic and volcanic activity around the Pacific basin.

Peru averages at least 100 detectable earthquakes every year.

The last big one, in 2021 in the Amazon region, had a magnitude of 7.5, left 12 people injured and destroyed more than 70 homes.

A devastating quake in 1970 in the northern Ancash region of Peru killed around 67,000 people.