Indonesia extends Bali airport closure, thousands left stranded
Experts warn Mt Agung may be hours from explosive lava eruption after ‘over the scale’ tremor | LIVESTREAM
A chilling red glow from the lava in the crater of Mt Agung has been seen in photographs as vulcanologists in Bali warn the volcano could be just hours from a potentially explosive lava eruption after a massive “over the scale” tremor shook surrounding villages and a key observation post.
Indonesian volcanology and hazard mitigation centre senior scientist Gede Suantika told The Australian the tremor, which hit at 1.30pm (4.30 AEDT) yesterday was “so big it was literally over the scale and could no longer be recorded”.
“This indicates the volcano will emit a lot of magmatic materials but we still don’t know whether it will be a spill-over or an explosive eruption,” Mr Suantika said.
“I’ve seen this only twice before — once before the Merapi eruption (in 2010) and once (before the) Kelud volcano.”
Indonesia’s Mount Merapi erupted 12 hours later, Kelud in 2014 within two hours.
Authorities were still struggling yesterday to evacuate some 100,000 Balinese living in the 10km radius exclusion zone around the volcano, even as the scientists flagged an extension of that area in preparation for an explosive eruption.
An estimated 164,000 tourists are also stranded in Bali after authorities on Tuesday extended the airport closure for another 24 hours because of ash cloud above the airport. The closure forced the cancellation of 443 flights and affected 59,539 travellers — similar figures to Monday.
Hundreds of travellers converged on Ngurah rai airport for a second day, queuing for information at makeshift airline counters and consular kiosks.
Pagan Raston, a 31-year-old oil and gas worker from Perth, was scheduled to fly out yesterday on a Qantas flight and said she had received no information from the airline save a message advising that her November 27 flight had been rescheduled to December 27.
“So I miss Christmas? I don’t think so,” she said with a laugh as she stood in a huddle with her cousin Ellen Gardner.
“I thought Qantas would be a bit more organised but we can’t find them here, they haven’t sent one email out. Quite a few people have had their flights rescheduled to December 27. “
Another Perth group queuing at the AirAsia counter after a 40th birthday weekend said they had heard about buses going to Surabaya, Indonesia’s second biggest city and a 12 hour bus and ferry ride from Denpasar, but were still trying to determine whether it would be wiser to stay and wait for the airport to reopen or try and make their way back by other means.
“My kids are really upset. They’ve been crying on the phone because they’ve seen reports on the TV news and are worried about us,” said David Plowman, who complained he had been given no information from his airline, Jetstar.
Bali Airport spokesman Ari Ahsanurrohim said 443 inward and outward flights had been cancelled Tuesday affecting 59,539 travellers, similar numbers to Monday.
Outside Bali’s domestic airport terminal, hundreds more passengers — keen to find a way off the island and back home — queued for buses leaving hourly from the airport for the island’s bus terminal.
But they too were struggling for information, many of them mistakenly believing the buses would take them directly to a ferry terminal and off the island.
While domestic and international tourists fumed over the lack of information, Bali authorities urged 100,000 residents within an expanded 10km exclusion zone around the mountain to leave their homes for evacuation shelters.
Overnight, Mount Agung continued to emit a thick plume of dark ash and steam up to 3km into the atmosphere, sending a dry rain shower of stinging sulfuric ash onto villages as far as 20km away from the crater.
Over consecutive nights slow exposure photographs have shown a red orange glow at the mouth of the volcano, which Indonesian volcanologist Gede Suantika confirmed was lava near the mouth of the volcano chamber reflecting off the thick ash cloud above.
“Right now the chamber is not completely full of lava but when it is it will spill over,” he said.
“If the slope of the volcano is gentle it will just creep over the edge in a slow flow.”
However Mt Agung’s steep slopes heightened the chances of a more explosive pyroclastic cloud, such as that seen in 1963 when the volcano last erupted.
Back then the eruption killed some 1600 people and forced the evacuation of 220,000 more.
This time authorities are far better prepared.
Even so, frustrations are rising on famously laid back Bali.
At one evacuation shelter in Rendang, 12km from Mt Agung, several newly-evacuated families crouched on muddy ground inside a tent that had leaked through the night, soaking children, mattresses and belongings
Kadek Sasih and her family spent a miserable night trying to plug up holes in the ceiling and keep dry.
“We have complained and (Officials) have promised they’re going to fix the leaks but there’s been nothing done yet,” said the mother of three.
Her family of farm workers moved back to the shelter on Saturday, just weeks after returning to their village at the foot of the volcano when the alert status was downgraded earlier this month.
“We tried to fix it ourselves but we need materials and we can’t afford them so we will have to make the best of a dire situation. There’s not even food coming in, ”she added.
“We don’t know where our village chief is and until he contacts officials in the camp we can’t get any help.”
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