Bali’s Mount Agung spews ash up 2km

Mount Agung on Indonesia’s resort island of Bali has erupted again, spewing volcanic ash into the sky to a height of 2km.

Mount Agung erupts last July. Picture: AFP

Mount Agung on Indo­nesia’s resort island of Bali has erupted again, spewing volcanic ash into the sky to a height of 2km, an official said ysterday.

The volcano erupted at 3.21am yesterday and the thick ash column was blown to the southwest, causing a drizzle of volcanic ash in Karangasem, Bangli and Klunglung districts, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, a spokesman for the national disaster mitigation agency, said.

There were no immediate reports of casualties but the volcano’s status remains on alert or level three of four possible tiers and authorities continue to impose a 4km exclusion zone.

Disaster agency head I Made Rentin said he had talked to the authorities of state-owned airport operator Angkasa Pura about this latest eruption and its impact on the Ngurah Rai International Airport’s flight activities. The seismogram recorded that the eruption lasted for three minutes and 37 seconds and had a maximum amplitude of 22mm.

Two other volcanoes popular with tourists on the island of Java also continue to erupt.

Mount Bromo in East Java and Mount Merapi in Yogyakarta remain on standby, with exclusion zones also in place.

“This a normal situation of an active volcano and there is no need for the public to panic, as long as they remain outside the danger zone. Don’t try to get closer to the crater to document the volcanic activity in the crater,” Mr Nugroho said.

Foreign climbers have tried to ignore the danger zone status and attempted to climb Mount Agung, causing rescuers to scour the mountain in a bid to evacuate them.

DPA