Agung set to blow

Villagers flee in terror as Bali volcano enters ‘critical phase’

BALI’S highest volcano is showing “greater than ever” seismic activity with hundreds of tremors recorded daily, authorities have said, signalling that eruption could be imminent. Clouds have shrouded the top of Mount Agung, which is now said to have entered a “critical phase” as seismic activity increases.

More than 75,000 people have fled the surrounding area and a 12km exclusion zone has been established around the volcano, said National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho.

The Indonesian national disaster agency (BNPB) said there had been more than 560 deep volcanic earthquakes recorded on Monday alone.

Mount Agung last erupted in 1963, killing about 1100 people. Evacuees are taking shelter at more than 370 sites across the island that include temporary camps, sport centres, village halls and the houses of friends and relatives.

Villager Wayan Merta said he was among the first to evacuate last week because his village, Selat, is just 6km from the summit.

“We have already sold our cattle, because we thought it was better than leaving them there for nothing,” he said.

“My feeling is the mountain will erupt,” he said. “But no one knows, we just pray.”

Mr Sutopo said it was “natural” that people outside the immediate danger zone were leaving.

More than 500,000 people evacuated when Mount Merapi in central Java erupted in 2010, more than double the population in the exclusion zone around that volcano, he said.

In 1963, Agung hurled ash as high as 20km and remained active for about a year. Lava travelled 7.5km and ash reached Jakarta, about 1000km away.

The mountain, 72km to the northeast of the tourist hotspot of Kuta, is among more than 120 active volcanoes in Indonesia.