Volcano eruption fears spark exodus
More than 35,000 people have fled a 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 from disaster officials are more than double previous estimates and are continuing to rise.
It includes people who left voluntarily as well as those told to leave a 6-8 mile zone around Mount Agung.
Authorities raised the volcano’s alert status to the highest level on Friday after a “tremendous increase” in seismic activity. Its last eruption in 1963 killed 1,100.
Cabinet minister Luhut Binsar Panjaitan said yesterday that the areas around the volcano “must be prepared for the worst”.
The National Disaster Mitigation Agency has praised people’s welcoming response to the flood of evacuees.
Thousands are living in temporary shelters, sport centres and village halls or with relatives or friends. Agency
0 The last eruption of Mount Agung, on the tourist island of Bali, killed 1,100 people in 1963 spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said 14 tons of aid, including tents, blankets, mattresses and portable communications equipment, had been sent.
Lorry driver Wayan Suparta said he and his family had left their village 3 miles from the mountain several days ago, taking just clothes and blankets to a temporary camp in Rendang.
The 35-year-old said he had sold the family’s cow because they didn’t know when they would be able to return.
Officials have said there is no danger to people in other parts of Bali.
In 1963, the 9,944ft Agung hurled ash as high as 12 miles, according to volcanologists, and remained active for about a year.
Lava travelled 4.7 miles and ash reached Indonesia’s capital Jakarta, about 620 miles away.
The mountain, 45 miles north-east of the tourist hotspot of Kuta, is one of more than 120 active volcanoes in Indonesia.
The country 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.