Bali volcano alert cause villagers to evacuate. Source: 7 News
More than 35,000 people have fled a menacing volcano on the Indonesian tourist island of Bali, fearing it will erupt for the first time in more than half a century as increasing tremors rattle the region.
The numbers, supplied by disaster officials on Sunday, are more than double previous estimates and continue to rise, they say. It includes people who left voluntarily, as well as those told to evacuate from a nine to 12 kilometre zone around Mount Agung.
Authorities raised the volcano's alert status to the highest level on Friday following a "tremendous increase" in seismic activity. Its last eruption in 1963 killed 1100 people.
17.551 jiwa pengungsi Gunung Agung hingga 23/9/2017, 18 Wita. Pendataan masih dilakukan. pic.twitter.com/p8mlGFugeR
The National Disaster Mitigation Agency has praised the welcoming response of local communities on Bali to the flood of evacuees.
Thousands are living in temporary shelters, sport centres, village halls and with relatives or friends. Some return to the danger zone during the day to tend to livestock.
National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said 14 tons of aid has been sent, including tents, blankets, mattresses and portable communications equipment.
Villagers rest at a temporary shelter in Klungkung, Bali, Indonesia. Photo / AP
Truck driver Wayan Suparta said he and his family left their village 5 kilometres from the mountain several days ago, bringing just clothes and blankets to a temporary camp in Rendang.
The 35-year-old said he sold the family's cow because they don't know when they'll be able to return. Officials have said there is no current danger to people in other parts of Bali, a popular tourist island famous for its surfing, beaches and elegant Hindu culture.
Hoaxes have proliferated online, with videos of previous eruptions in Indonesia circulated as being current at Mount Agung.
A woman receives food for her child at an evacuees' camp in Klungkung, Bali. Photo / AP
In 1963, the 3031m Agung hurled ash as high as 20 kilometres, according to volcanologists, and remained active for about a year. Lava travelled 7.5 kilometres and ash reached Indonesia's capital, Jakarta, about 1000 kilometres away.
The mountain, 72 kilometres to the northeast of the tourist hotspot of Kuta, is among more than 120 active volcanoes in Indonesia.
The country of thousands of islands is prone to seismic upheaval due to its location on the Pacific "Ring of Fire", an arc of volcanoes and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.
AIRPORT ON ALERT
The international airport in Bali's capital, Denpasar, was anticipating the prospect of closure but no flight schedules had been affected as of Sunday night.
The airport has prepared buses and trains to divert passengers to alternative hubs in neighbouring provinces, if the mountain erupts.
Flight disruptions due to drifting ash clouds are not uncommon in Indonesia, which sits on a belt of seismic activity known as the "Ring of Fire".
Officer of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, Gede Suantika, center, explains the volcanic hazard to residents at the Mount Agung monitoring station in Bali, Indonesia. Photo / AP
Last year, more than two dozen domestic and international flights to Bali's neighbouring resort island Lombok were cancelled due to a drifting ash cloud from erupting Mount Rinjani.
Bali officials said the island was still generally safe but urged tourists to stay away from tourism spots located within the danger zone.
Pura Besakih temple, one of Bali's most prominent temples which is located just a few kilometres away from the mountain's slopes, has been closed to visitors since Saturday.
A family rest in a tent at an evacuee camp in Klungkung, Bali, Indonesia. Photo / AP
The Indonesian Centre for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation said the tremors had grown more powerful on Sunday.
"The mountain has not erupted until now. The earthquakes are happening less frequently but the magnitude is getting stronger," Gede Suantika, a senior volcanologist at the agency told AFP.
HISTORY OF ERUPTIONS
The volcano agency's chief Kasbani said Mount Agung had a history of major eruptions that eclipsed recent episodes in Indonesia, including the 2010 eruption of Mount Merapi in Central Java that claimed at least 350 lives.
The 1963 eruption of Mount Agung killed more than 1000 people and devastated many villages.
Villagers who were evacuated from their homes on the slope of Mount Agung sit outside tents prepared to become their temporary shelter in Klungkung, Bali, Indonesia. Photo / AP
The 2010 Merapi eruption, which also forced hundreds of thousands of villagers to flee, was that mountain's biggest since 1872. However, it was 10 times smaller than Mount Agung's 1963 eruption.
