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By APD writer Maverick
JAKARTA, Sept. 20 (APD) — Indonesian authorities have stepped up the status of Mount Agung in resort of Bali to alert following the escalating seismic and volcanic activities in the volcano as contingency plans, including people evacuation, has also been prepared.
The alert status has been imposed since Monday following hundreds of tremors recorded by the volcano monitoring team assigned by the nation’s vulcanology disaster mitigation center of PVMBG.
The team is now installing more sophisticated instruments to get accurate information of the volcano activities so as to correctly anticipate the measures which would be applied by related agencies to address the potential disaster.
“As of now government and regional administration continue to anticipate the possible eruption of
Mount Agung. Areas considered prone from the eruption should be vacated. We are still studying the developing situation in the field. People should remain calm,” Head of Indonesia’s National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) Willem Rampangilei said during his inspection the monitoring station in Bali’s Karangasem regency on Wednesday.
He said that 7 kilometers around the volcano crater should be vacated should the volcano erupts.
Monitoring over Mount Agung volcanic activities was carried out around the clock with evaluation was conducted every 6 hours.
As of now no flight ban was issued for airlines serving in Bali, but planes were highly advised to fly away from the volcano that standing tall at 3,124 meters above sea level.
Administrator of Bali International airport I Gusti Ngurah Rai has issued Volcano Observatory Notice for Aviation (VONA) too advise planes in doing so.
“The status imposed for Mount Agung has the potentialities to disrupt flights,” Head of Communication and Legal Section at the airport Arie Ahsanurrohim said on Wednesday.
He added that the airport administration continues to coordinate with related institutions to anticipate the developing situation. The Emergency Response station has also been prepared in the airport premises.
Mount Agung, located 70 kilometers from Bali’s Kuta bustling tourism district, has eruption records in 1808, 1821, 1843 and 1963. The latest eruption in 1963 was considered as the largest one, killed more than 1,100 people.
(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)
