Indonesia volcano: Mount Agung eruption closes Bali's main airport
Story highlights
- Bali's main airport has closed as Mount Agung creates huge ash cloud
- Ash cloud reached as high as 9,100 meters (5.6 miles), Australian officials say
Jakarta, Indonesia (CNN)Authorities
have issued the highest-level warning possible after volcanic eruptions
from Mount Agung on the Indonesian resort island of Bali forced the
closure of the island's main airport and evacuation of thousands of
residents living nearby.
Thick
ash started shooting thousands of meters into the air above Mount Agung
on Saturday, driving east and southeast along the archipelago, forcing
more than 29,000 people to evacuate from their homes, the Bali
Provincial Board for Disaster Relief said, revising their initial
estimate.
At
Ngurah Rai International Airport, Bali's main airport, flights were
canceled for 24 hours from 7:15 a.m. Monday local time (6 p.m. Sunday
ET), stranding roughly 59,000 domestic and international passengers,
according to the airport's latest report.
"While
the sun is shining and there is little sign of volcanic ash in the
southern regions of Bali, evidence of volcanic ash at higher altitudes
on aviation approach and departure paths has prompted the decision to
close the airport," Bali Tourism Board Chairman Ida Bagus Agung Partha
Adnyana said in a statement.
Balinese Hindus pray near Mount Agung in hope of preventing a volcanic eruption Saturday.
The
National Agency for Disaster Management issued a Level 4 alert on
Monday, indicating the potential for another larger eruption and
recommending no public activities within 8 to 10 kilometers from the
peak.
Anyone within that distance of the peak was advised to evacuate.
On
Sunday, Indonesia's Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard
Mitigation raised its aviation alert notice to Red, the highest level.
Regular rain in the area around the volcano has created a series of volcanic mud flows, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, head of information and data for Indonesia's National Disaster Management Agency said.
"The
pyroclastic material of (the) Mount Agung eruption will continue to
grow. The rain will increase during the rainy season. Potential lava
floods will increase. Do not do (engage in) activities around the
river," he said on his official Twitter.
Lombok International Airport
on Lombok, the island due east of Bali, closed temporarily, said Ari
Ahsan, spokesman for Ngurah Rai airport. Flights from Lombok resumed
early Monday.
A view of Mount Agung Volcano Erupted in the morning from Amed Beach.
'Amazing and scary'
Bali is a popular tourist destination which welcomes more than a million visitors from nearby Australia every year, as well as hundreds of thousands of Chinese guests.
The
main tourist centers are some distance from Mount Agung. Bali's
artistic hub, the small town of Ubud, is about 50 kilometers (31 miles)
southwest of the volcano, and Denpasar (where the airport is located)
and the popular Kuta Beach are more than 63 kilometers (40 miles) away.
A family on a motorcycle passes by the Mount Agung volcano erupting in the background.
Freelance writer Ann Goryainova, 34, said she was traveling on Lombok when Agung finally erupted.
"(I
can) see a huge steam and ash cloud over the volcano from here, amazing
and scary at the same time," she told CNN, while adding there was no
panic on the island around her.
A boy takes pictures during Mount Agung's eruption on Indonesia's resort island of Bali on November 26,
Actor Derek Du Chesne, 30, said he was having a very difficult time trying to find a flight home to the United States.
"The
last two days we couldn't get out of here. Traffic gridlocked, buses
lining the streets for evacuation. We couldn't get through to any of the
airlines via phone, been on hold for an hour now, scary stuff," he
said.
Tens of thousands of people were evacuated from their homes around Mount Agung in September
when the alert was first raised. At the time, an evacuation zone of 12
kilometers around Mount Agung was established, and travelers were
warned to stay clear of the area.
The
evacuation zone is based on the last time Agung erupted in 1963,
killing more than 1,700 people and destroying many villages, some on the
slopes of the mountain.
Mount Agung sent smoke rising thousands of meters into the air, shutting down flights.
Eruptions started Saturday
The
ash, which began spewing into the sky after Mount Agung in eastern Bali
erupted three times Saturday, has reached heights of 4,000 meters
(about 2.5 miles), according to Sutopo.
Young people put on masks due to ash in the air.
According to Australia's Bureau of Meteorology, by Monday morning the continuous cloud of smoke had reached as high as 9,100 meters (at least 5.6 miles).
The
first eruption came around 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Bali's Regional Disaster
Management Agency said. More eruptions followed and continued into
Sunday, with a "medium-pressure eruption" in the early evening.
Balinese
Hindus take part in a ceremony, where they pray near Mount Agung in
hope of preventing a volcanic eruption on November 26.
"The
volcanic eruption has now moved on to the next, more severe, magmatic
eruption phase, where highly viscous lava can trap gasses under
pressure, potentially leading to an explosion," Mark Tingay, a geologist
at the University of Adelaide's Australian School of Petroleum, said in
a statement Monday.
"The local authorities are extremely experienced in managing volcanic eruptions, and have the situation extremely well in-hand."
Ash
fall was reported in the villages of North Duda, East Duda, Pempetan,
Besakih, Sidemen, Tirta Abang, Sebudi, Bhuana Amerta in Klungkung and in
some villages in Gianyar. Masks are being distributed in Bali and Pulau
Lombok.
