More than 120,000 people flee volcano in Bali/2017

More than 120,000 people flee volcano in Bali



A massive evacuation is under way on the Indonesian island of Bali as more than 120,000 flee a smoking volcano which appears on the brink of erupting.

Scientists say a dramatic increase in the number of tremors indicates a potentially catastrophic eruption of Mount Agung is 'imminent'.

Evacuees have been relocated across the resort island, taking shelter in temporary camps, sports centres and other public buildings.

An exclusion zone around the mountain extends as far as 7.5 miles from the crater but people further from the volcano are also leaving in fear for their lives.



'I would definitely be following the advice to stay outside the exclusion zone,' said Heather Handley, an assistant earth sciences professor at Sydney's Macquarie University. The increase in tremors suggests an eruption is 'imminent,' she added.

Mount Agung, 47 miles from the resort hub of Kuta, has been shaking since August and threatening to erupt for the first time since 1963 - a potential blow to the country's lucrative tourism industry.

Officials at an evacuation centre in Klungkung district said 122,490 people had left their homes, taking refuge at nearly 500 makeshift shelters or moving in with relatives.

Around 62,000 people lived in the danger zone before the evacuations, according to Indonesia's disaster mitigation agency, but residents just outside the area have also left their homes out of fear.

Despite the significant increase in estimated evacuees, the government said it was prepared.

'In general the evacuation is going well, the logistics supply is sufficient for the evacuees' needs,' said spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho.



This week Indonesia's national disaster agency sent face masks, mattresses, blankets and tents for evacuees, who have also been provided with food.

Five mobile sirens have been installed in the danger zone to warn residents in the event of an eruption. Around 10,000 animals have also been evacuated from the flanks of the volcano.



Officials estimate there are at least 30,000 cows within a 12-kilometre radius of the mountain's summit, and efforts to relocate them are ongoing. 'We've set a target to evacuate 20,000 more cows from the affected areas,' Nugroho said.

The animals are extremely valuable to the evacuees - mostly farmers - some of whom have refused to leave the danger zone, the spokesman said.



The Indonesian Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation said Mount Agung was highly active on Thursday, recording 125 volcanic earthquakes between 12am (6pm BST) and 6am.

'If we look at the magnitude, it continues to increase, yesterday we also felt several quakes with the magnitude of three on the Richter scale,' said Kasbani, head volcanologist at the centre. 

Tourists on the party island famed for its beaches have told how they were woken up in the middle of the night and evacuated from their hotels.



Rory Eastick, an Australian in Bali for a wedding, said he was woken up at 11.30pm by his Indonesian brother-in-law and told to evacuate his hotel immediately.

'It was quite a worrying moment because it was at that time we realised everyone in our hotel had already left,' he said.

Meanwhile, a whole island of Vanuatu is being evacuated after a volcano there known as Manaro Voui began emitting ash and volcanic gas last weekend.



More than half people have already been moved to emergency shelters on the island of Ambae, which is in the north of the South Pacific Ocean nation.

Now the government is ordering all 10,000 residents to the nearby islands of Maewo, Pentecost and Santo amid the threat of an eruption and a strain on water supplies.

'The evacuation of every family out of Ambae is a must,' Vanuatu's Council of Ministers said in a statement.

The government hopes to have completely evacuated the island by October 6 so residents avoid toxic volcanic gas, debris and acid rain.



Aid workers said Vanuatu will use government vessels and commercial fishing boats to transfer Ambae's residents.

Although Ambae's volcano has been active since 2005, the government has never previously needed to evacuate the island.

Even if Manaro Voui does not erupt, aid workers fear the spread of volcanic ash across the island will cause long-term harm to locals, who are almost entirely reliant on locally grown produce for food.

Vanuatu is an economically developing nation of more than 80 islands and home to 260,000 people.



Both Indonesia and Vanuatu sit on the Pacific 'Ring of Fire', an arc of volcanoes and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.

Bali President Joko Widodo visited his island's evacuation area on Tuesday, encouraging local residents to evacuate the area and seek safety in the shelters set up for those without homes.

'While the government will continue to try to minimize the economic losses of the community, the most important priority is the safety of the people here,' Widodo said.