Agung strikes again, this time emitting a 2000-meter high ash column

Following two small eruptions yesterday, Bali’s Mount Agung flared up once again in the wee hours of this morning. Occurring at around 3:45am, today’s eruption was accompanied by an ash column as high as 2000 meters above the mountain’s peak, according to a report in local media outlet Bali Post.

The ash column was observed to be grey and thick, though once again, the overall duration of the eruption was relatively short at 2 minutes and 25 seconds. A few villages to the north of the volcano, namely Baturinggit, Sukadana and Ban, experienced some ash rain, according to the report from the The Center for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation (PVMBG).

As a precaution, the PVMBG have asked those living near the rivers that flow from Mount Agung to stay particularly alert.

“Be aware of the potential secondary hazard of rain lava flow, which is more likely to occur during rainy season,” explained a representative from the PVMBK to Kumparan.

For the meantime, the volcano’s alert status remains at Level III, or “standby” status, the second highest of four levels. Visitors, climbers and residents are prohibited from trekking to the top of Agung or entering the hazard zone which stretches a four kilometer radius around the peak crater.