JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia's Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki erupted on Wednesday, shooting volcanic ash 10 km (6.2 miles) into the sky, the country's volcanology agency said, forcing authorities to raise the alert system to its highest level.

Located in East Nusa Tenggara province, the volcano erupted on Wednesday at 1:35 a.m. (1835 GMT Tuesday) for around nine minutes, the country's Geological Agency said in a statement.

It erupted again on Wednesday morning at 9:21 a.m. (0121 GMT), spewing ash 8 km high, the agency said, for about three minutes.

Late on Tuesday, the agency raised its alert level to the highest point after recording "significant rising of the volcano's activities" since Monday, its head, Muhammad Wafid, said.  

"People living near the volcano should be aware of the potential volcanic mudflow if heavy rain occurs," Wafid said, adding that people should clear a six- to seven-kilometre area around the site. 

Dozens of people living in villages nearest to the volcano were evacuated after the eruptions, according to Avelina Manggota Hallan, an official at the local disaster mitigation agency. 

Most of the residents left their villages after Lewotobi Laki-laki's major eruption, which killed 10 people and damaged thousands of houses in November 2024, Hallan added.  

The government has closed Fransiskus Xaverius Seda airport, located in Maumere, East Nusa Tenggara province, until Thursday, the airport operator said in a post on social media. 

The volcano last erupted in August. It also erupted in July, causing flight disruptions to and from the nearby resort island of Bali. 

The Wednesday's eruptions so far have not affected flights to and from Bali, Bali's airport operator told Reuters.  

Indonesia, which has more than 120 active volcanoes, sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire," an area of high seismic activity that is atop multiple tectonic plates. 

(Reporting by Ananda Teresia; Editing by Thomas Derpinghaus and Raju Gopalakrishnan)