BALI EVACUEES OUTSIDE DANGER ZONE TOLD TO RETURN

Numbers have grown too high and can become a burden, says governor

KARANGASEM

MORE than 144,000 people have fled from a rumbling volcano on popular tourist island Bali, but officials yesterday urged evacuees who live outside the immediate danger zone to return home.

Mount Agung, 75km from the tourist hub of Kuta, has been shaking since August, causing fears it could erupt for the first time since 1963 and triggering the highest possible alert level.

But officials said the number of evacuees had grown too high, and only people who live within 9km of the crater should remain in temporary shelters, or with friends and relatives further afield.

“There is no reason for people who live in the safe zone to evacuate.

“They need to go back to their village because they will become a burden,” Bali governor I Made Mangku Pastika said.

Only 70,000 people live within the 9km radius affected by Mount Agung’s volcanic activity, meaning more than half of the evacuees could return to their houses, the government said.

“Only people from 27 villages must evacuate. The rest can go home.

“They can either go home independently or with the help of the government,” said National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho.

The activity of Mount Agung remained high but stable, said the Indonesian Centre for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation.

There were fewer than 200 tremors between midnight and 6am yesterday — slightly below the level of seismic activity observed on Wednesday and Thursday, it said.

Indonesia sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, where tectonic plates collide, causing frequent seismic and volcanic activity.

In 2010, Mount Merapi on the island of Jaya erupted after rumbling since 2006, while Mount Sinabung on Sumatra island — which is currently also on the highest alert level — had been active since 2013.

“There are no visual signs yet that Mount Agung will erupt soon. So, don’t be afraid to come to Bali, it’s still safe. And, if the mountain erupts, it’s still safe as long as people stay out of the dangerous zone,” Sutopo said. AFP