Guernsey Press

What you need to know about Bali’s Mount Agung volcano as people fear imminent eruption

More than 560 earthquakes have been recorded in 24 hours.

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Some 75,000 people have evacuated an area around volcano Mount Agung on the Indonesian island of Bali as activity suggests it is near eruption.

Here’s what we know about the volcano.

Mount Agung volcano in Bali which is likely to erupt (Firdia Lisnawati/AP)
(Firdia Lisnawati/PA)

Then, lava spewed 7.5 km (4.7 miles) while ash was hurled as high as 20 kilometres (12 miles) and blew as far as the Indonesian capital Jakarta some 1,000km (620 miles) away, to the west.

After the eruption, it remained active for about a year.

People are classing the danger zone as a ring of up to 12kms (7.5 miles) from the crater.

Mount Agung volcano in Bali which is likely to erupt (Firdia Lisnawati/AP)
(Firdia Lisnawati/AP)

In one day (September 25) there were some 560 volcanic earthquakes recorded. Most were shallow.

Indonesia is made of thousands of islands and is prone to earthquakes and volcanoes, what geologists call seismic upheaval.

Mount Agung volcano (Firdia Lisnawati/AP)
(Firdia Lisnawati/AP)

Evacuees are currently living in temporary shelters: sports centres, village halls or even with relatives or friends.

More than 75,000 people had left the immediate area by September 26.

People fleeing the area around Mount Agung volcano amid fears an eruption is imminent (Firdia Lisnawati/AP)
(Firdia Lisnawati/AP)

Virgin Australia flights bound for Bali are taking on extra fuel in Darwin in case an eruption means they need to turn back, Australia’s 9 News reported.

The government’s humanitarian assistance plan will see the distribution of hundreds of thousands of face masks.

The volcano’s alert status was raised to its highest level on Friday and remains at that – level four.

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