On the Indonesian island of Bali, citizens are in the midst of a crisis. Mount Agung, an active volcano standing 9,994 feet tall, is close to erupting. The last time the volcano was active was in 1963 when it killed approximately 1,100 people. Now, over 50 years later, the volcano is coming back to life and threatening to erupt again.
The earliest tremors were detected by scientists in late September, but these did not tell them what would actually happen. Small eruptions have been going on since Tuesday, November 21, but bigger eruptions are on the verge of happening. Some experts are saying that the volcano could erupt very soon, covering parts of the island in lava. But it could also stay at the same point it’s at for weeks. Scientists are unsure of the damage that could be done. As of right now, the volcano is very unpredictable.
Mount Agung has been spitting ash into the air up to two-and-a-half miles high while lava is bubbling away in the crater. The ash in the air is very dangerous to people’s respiratory system, so many of them are wearing masks to just walk outside. Breathing in high amounts of ash could cause many breathing problems and possibly suffocation.There has been an alert of the highest level sent out by the government and they have urged people to leave the area as quickly they can. This is proving to be an issue because the government shut down the Bali International airport for three days. The amount of ash is in the air is bad for the jet engines because they could cause many issues and maybe even seize up, causing the plane to go down. Many people were stranded in Bali because of this but hopefully, with its reopening, citizens can get out quickly and safely.
Richard Arculus, Australian National University’s volcano expert, explained, “If it got much worse, it would be really hard to think of. You’ve got a huge population center, nearly a million people in Denpasar and surroundings, and it’s very difficult to envision moving those people further away.” Moving mass amounts of people in such a short amount of time has been proving to be difficult. The unpredictability of the volcano also makes it difficult because no one knows when they need to leave.
Scientists are unsure of how big the eruption will be but Janine Krippner, a volcanologist, said, “Magma has been at the surface for days now, the risk now is the possibility of a larger eruption.”
As of right now, the large eruption has not come but there are signs of its imminent arrival.
