Bali still ‘safe’ after Mount Agung eruption on Sunday
Bali’s Mount Agung erupted again yesterday evening, and though officials reiterated the need for maintaining an exclusion zone of 4km in radius from the volcano’s crater, they also said there’s no need for anybody to evacuate just yet.
National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) spokesman, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, said in a tweet that Bali remains safe and pleasant despite the eruption, and that Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport is still operating normally.
Lava pijar dari erupsi Gunung Agung membakar semak belukar di sekitar puncak kawah. Status Siaga, zona bahaya di dalam 4 km. Masyarakat tetap tenang. Tidak perlu mengungsi. Bali tetap aman dan nyaman. Bandara IGK Ngurah Rai tetap beroperasi normal. pic.twitter.com/kY4UTuuAoD
— Sutopo Purwo Nugroho (@Sutopo_PN) May 12, 2019
“Lava from Mount Agung’s eruption is burning bushes around the top of the crater. Standby alert level, exclusion zone within 4km radius. Residents remain calm. There is no need to evacuate. Bali remains safe and pleasant. The Ngurah Rai International Airport is still operating normally,” Sutopo tweeted.
Mount Agung erupted on Sunday at 10.29pm local time, which lasted approximately 2 minutes and 16 seconds, according to the Center for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation (PVMBG). The center was not able to observe the height of the ash columns. The sound of the eruption could be heard as far as PVMBG’s observation post in Rendang.
Since November 2017, Mount Agung has erupted 21 times. It remains at level three alert level, or “standby” status, as set by Indonesia’s volcanology center.
Apparently, Mount Agung was not the only Indonesian volcano erupting over the weekend, with Anak Krakatoa in Lampung and Mount Sinabung in North Sumatra also erupting on Sunday morning and afternoon, respectively.
