Palu'e

Palu'e is an Indonesian island located in the Floressee and part of the Lesser Sunda Islands. The island belongs to a zone of increased earthquake and volcanic activity, extending on the northeast edge of the Indian Ocean.

Geography

Palu'e is approximately 18 kilometers north of Flores. The circular island with a diameter of more than 6 kilometers, has an area of ​​41 square kilometers. Around 10,000 inhabitants spread across eight mountain villages. The inhabitants of the island have their own language, which is also called Palu'e and which belongs to the Malayo -Polynesian languages ​​of Central.

Volcano

The island is dominated by the 875 meter high stratovolcano Paluweh (also called Rokatenda ). The last serious outbreaks occurred in 1928 and 1964. Since the autumn of 2012, he is again increasingly active. After early February 2013, a severe outbreak occurred with a 4000 -meter-high ash cloud, which meant that many people left the island, it came on 10 August 2013 at a further outbreak, where six people were killed and 3,000 inhabitants of the neighboring island Flores were brought to safety. Due to the ongoing volcanic activity of the disaster protection attempts to convince the remaining residents of permanently relocating to Flores.