Bali’s Mount Agung volcano eruption latest news – where’s the Indonesian island and is it safe to travel there?

THE Mount Agung volcano in Bali erupted for the first time in more than half a century in November, forcing tens of thousands of people to flee the Indonesian island's "danger zone."

Hundreds of flights were cancelled and up to 120,000 travellers were stranded as huge plumes of thick, dark ash spewed high into the sky – here's the latest from the Indonesian island.

AP:Associated Press

A view of the Mount Agung volcano erupting in Karangasem, Bali, Indonesia, on Monday, November 27 When did Mount Agung erupt?

The Bali volcano erupted for a second time in November sending a plume of volcanic ash and steam over 6,000 metres into the skies.

Indonesia issued a red aviation warning, with Lombok airport closed and scores of flights cancelled.

Virgin Australia cancelled all flights to and from Bali as a precautionary measure until conditions stabilise.

Indonesia's disaster agency said Bali is "still safe" for tourists apart from a six-mile zone around the volcano.

Up to 100,000 people have been ordered to evacuate the area around the volatile mountain, which has been hurling ash thousands of metres into the atmosphere.

Government spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho told a news conference in Jakarta that the danger zone affects 22 villages and about 90,000 to 100,000 people.

He said about 40,000 people have already evacuated but others have not left because they feel safe or don't want to abandon their livestock.

On Monday, November 27, the alert level was raised to "stage four" as experts reported a large eruption was "imminent."

When could the Bali volcano erupt and how much damage could Mount Agung cause? What is the travel advice?

Ash from the volcano reached the Bali airport's airspace, triggering its closure last week.

More than 400 flights to and from Bali were cancelled and up to 120,000 travellers were stranded.

Some flights were cancelled until after Christmas.

Travel disruptions rippled around the globe as the island is one of Asia's top destinations, attracting five million visitors a year. December through the first week of January is one of the island's busiest periods.

Reuters

Villagers rescued by National Search and Rescue Agency are seen in a truck

Gushing ash has now dissipated into a wispy plume of steam, and Australian airlines that cancelled some flights to the Indonesian resort island on the weekend have returned to near-normal schedules.

Indonesia's disaster mitigation agency has said the volcano remains at its highest alert level but most of Bali is safe for tourists.

The exclusion zone around the volcano still extends six miles from the crater in some directions.

Airlines Jetstar and Virgin Australia, which cancelled flights over the weekend even as the ash cloud shrank dramatically, said they were resuming services.

A team of safety experts from Virgin Australia declared it safe for the airline to resume normal services – provided conditions remain favourable.

However, China's aviation authority has suspended all flights from Bali to China until the ash clears – the state-run newspaper People's Daily China has reported.

Britain's Foreign and Commonwealth Office is advising people to confirm their travel arrangements directly with their airline or travel agent.

Indonesian government volcanologists say Agung's crater is about one-third filled by lava and there is still a high risk of more eruptions.

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What happened in the run-up to the explosion?

Officials had warned that an eruption of Mount Agung on the tourist island of Bali is imminent with the active volcano in a "critical" phase.

Increasingly frequent tremors had been recorded amid a spike in volcanic activity.

Around 1,000 tremors were detected each day, indicating a flow of molten rock to the surface.

Bali governor I Made Mangku Pastika declared a state of emergency.

The fears prompted more than 140,000 people to flee the danger zone, around 45 miles from tourist resort Kuta.

The observation post for Mount Agung witnessed the volcano emitting a small plume most likely of water vapour on September 29. But there was no ash cloud.

A similar plume of steam was visible on October 19, when the volcano was hit by 1,052 small quakes.

The National Disaster Management Authority for Indonesia had raised the volcanic alert level for Mount Agung to level 4, the highest level possible.

This indicated an eruption was possible within 24 hours – but experts said it was impossible to say exactly when it would blow.

Senior seismologist Devy Kamil told the BBC: "There are some examples where you have swarms of activity for as long as six years… and it is not always ended by an eruption."

Indonesia's Centre for Volcanology of Geological Hazard Mitigation (PVMBG) and the Geology Agency of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) warned all the signs said: "The potential for eruption is still high".

Reuters

A man shelters in a rescue centre amid fears of an eruption When was the last major eruption?

The volcano last erupted in 1963 killing more than 2,000 people.

Locals heard explosions in February that year when ash and lava began to flow from the crater.

Almost a month later a full eruption sent debris up to six miles into the air and devastated numerous villages.

After the initial blast it remained "active" for the next 11 months.

Chilling video shows what happens the moment a massive volcano eruption strikes a major city
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