Indonesia has ordered some one hundred thousand people to evacuate after Mount Agung erupted, spewing ash thousands of meters into the air. Authorities have raised the alert level of the volcano to the highest possible.
Image: Reuters/J. Colreavy
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Volcano on Bali about to erupt? Krithika Varagour from Jakarta
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Indonesian authorities on Monday raised the alert status of an erupting volcano in Bali to the highest level, ordering up to 100,000 people within 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) of the crater to evacuate. Indonesia's disaster mitigation agency said the alert was raised "in anticipation of the possibility and imminent risk of disaster."
Mount Agung, an active volcano on Indonesia's resort island of Bali, erupted on Sunday, sending ash 3,000 meters (9,840 feet) above the crater, according to disaster management officials. "Constant tremors can be felt," said volcanologist Gede Suantika.
The alert was raised after the volcano shifted from steam-based eruptions to magmatic eruptions, said Kasbani, who heads Indonesia's geological agency.
"We don't expect a big eruption but we have to stay alert and anticipate," said Kasbani, who goes by one name.
Air traffic affected
Officials said Bali's Ngurah Rai international airport will be closed for 24 hours due to ash clouds.
A small international airport on the nearby island of Lombok, a tourist destination east of Bali, was closed on Sunday evening as wind blew ash in the direction of the island.
A volcano on the Indonesian island of Bali has erupted, sending plumes of ash thousands of meters into the sky. Authorities have upgraded flight warnings and ordered people still in the exclusion zone to leave.
Image: Reuters/Antara Foto/N. Budhiana
Ash cloud
Mount Agung in Bali's northeast erupted several times over the weekend, coating nearby resorts and villages in a thin layer of ash. Dark gray clouds spewing from the peak could be seen moving away from the capital, Denpasar, and toward the neighboring island of Lombok.
Image: Reuters
Lava's reflection
As night fell, a deep orange glow from the crater lit up part of an ash cloud that reached up to 6,000 meters (19,685 feet) into the sky. Mount Agung started showing signs of activity in September, prompting authorities to raise the volcano's emergency status to the highest level and evacuate 140,000 people living nearby. The alert was later downgraded on October 29 after a decrease in activity.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/F. Lisnawati/AP
Ash-covered paradise
Bali's surf beaches, temples and lush forests attract about 5 million visitors each year, making the island Indonesia's top tourist destination. But Made Sugiri, from the Mahagiri Panoramic Resort, says tourist numbers have been down in recent months. "We are out of the danger zone, but like other resorts in the region, of course the eruptions cause a decrease in the number of visitors," he said.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/H. Jilin
'Still safe'
Indonesia's disaster agency says Bali is "still safe" for tourists, noting in a statement that the emergency status for Agung remained at level 3, one below the highest, over the weekend. Despite a number of eruptions, it said volcanic activity remained relatively stable.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/S. Tumbelaka
Flight warning upgraded
It was a different story for the aviation alert status, however, which was lifted on Sunday from orange to red — its highest level. Although many flights went ahead as planned, hundreds of people were stranded by cancellations. Lombok's airport had to be shut down, but officials said Bali's main airport would remain open for as long as it was still possible for planes to skirt the ash cloud.
Image: REUTERS
Exclusion zone
About 25,000 people fled their homes during the latest eruptions. Authorities have warned anyone still inside a 7.5-kilometer (4.5-mile) exclusion zone around the crater to leave. Mount Agung is one of more than 120 active volcanoes in Indonesia. Its last major eruption in 1963 killed more than a thousand people.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/F. Lisnawati/AP
Magma and ash
Volcanologists described the renewed activity on Saturday as a phreatic eruption, with the expulsion of smoke caused by the heating and expansion of groundwater. On Sunday, officials said things may have progressed to a magmatic eruption, which results in the spewing of ash.
Safety measures
"Mount Agung ... is still spewing ash at the moment, but we need to monitor and be cautious over the possibility of a strong, explosive eruption," Indonesian government volcanologist Gede Suantika said. Soldiers and police are distributing masks to people in nearby villages and resorts to protect them from ash.
The volcano's last major eruption happened in 1963 and left more than 1,100 people dead. Indonesia straddles the Pacific Ocean's "Ring of Fire" and is home to more than 120 active volcanoes.
Crowds gathered to watch the volcano eruptImage: Getty Images/AFP/S. Tumbelaka
