The Agung Volcano on Bali Erupted Again

Nearly 1,600 people died when Mt. Agung last erupted in 1963..

Denpasar, MINA – Mount Agung volcano in the Indonesian resort island of Bali on Friday spewed an ash column up to 2 km above the crater, according to authorities.

The director of information for the Indonesian National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB), Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, said the eruption took place on Friday morning and that the ash cloud travelled in a westward direction, reports Efe news, quoted by the Indian Express.

Nugroho added that the alert level is maintained on orange (one level lower than the maximum alert – red) stressing that the ash did not affect the airport on Lombok island, about 40 km from the east coast of Bali.

Mount Agung began a magma eruption on November 21 which forced the closure of Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport, about 60 km to the south of Volcano, between November 27 and 29 due to the volcanic ash cloud.

The last time the Mount Agung volcano blew up in 1963, it killed about 1,600 people, razed dozens of villages and left tens of thousands homeless.

That year, the volcano erupted three times, after being dormant for 120 years. (T/RS5/RS1)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)