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By APD writer Maverick
JAKARTA, Nov. 26 (APD) — Indonesia’s volcano in resort island of Bali, Mount Agung, erupted on Sunday morning, emitted 3,000 meters of black smoke that led to flight alert level upgrade in the island from orange to red.
The latest eruption incited panic among residents around the volcano as it was marred with orange-yellowish color in certain wall of smoke column.
“The orange-yellowish color was an effect of sun ray on that side of smoke wall, not from smoldering lava that spewed from the volcano. The potential danger was only from volcano ash,” Spokesman of Indonesia’s National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said in a statement on Sunday.
The Sunday eruption occurred on 08.30 a.m. Central Indonesian Time (WIT), was following phreatic eruption that occurred on Saturday afternoon until midnight.
Sutopo said that volcanic ash from the eruption blew to East-Southeast directions, heading to neighboring province in different island of West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) province.
BNPB reported that residents living near dangerous zones have evacuated themselves to places considered safe, distanced from center of eruption.
Indonesian authorities have set dangerous zones at 7.5 kilometer from Mount Agung crater, with maximum tolerance of 6 kilometers. The zones have been vacated from living being since the volcano’s volcanic activities culminated in September.
No alert status alteration has been imposed to respond the latest eruption. The authorities had downgraded the alert status on the volcano to level 3 late last month from highest alert of level 4 in September.
Meanwhile, responding to the phreatic eruption that endlessly occurred since Saturday afternoon several international airlines cancelled departures of their flights from Bali international airport, affected more than 2,000 passengers.
Reports said arrival cancellations of several international airlines also took place during that period.
As of Sunday Indonesian authorities imposed red status on the flight safety in Bali, an upgrade from orange status to anticipate the escalating volcanic activities in Mount Agung.
“The status upgrade to red alert was caused by the volcanic smoke that has towered up 3,000 meters, making total height of the smoke 6,000 meters above the sea level if combined with the height of the volcano,” Head of volcanology and geological disaster mitigation section (PVMBG) at the Energy and Natural Resources Ministry I Gede Suantika said on Sunday.
The imposition to red alert status was in accordance to regulation mentioned in Volcano Observatory Notice to Aviation (VONA).
Later on, flights serving in Bali, particularly those passing near the volcano, would be decided by the related agencies and airlines, Suantika said.
Operation in Bali international airport of I Gusti Ngurah Rai was still normal on Sunday.
An administrator of an airport in nearby province of NTB said that there has been no flight re routed to the airport from Bali so far.
(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)
