Indonesia | Volcano forces mass evacuation, shuts Bali airport

Firdia Lisnawati & Stephen Wright, Karangasem

Indonesian authorities ordered a mass evacuation of people yesterday from an expanded danger zone around an erupting volcano on Bali that has forced the island’s international airport to close, stranding tens of thousands of travelers.

Mount Agung has been hurling clouds of white and dark gray ash about 3,000 meters into the atmosphere since the weekend and lava is welling up in the crater, sometimes reflected as a reddish-yellow glow in the ash plumes. Its explosions can be heard about 12 kilometers away.

Videos released by the National Disaster Mitigation Agency showed a mudflow of volcanic debris and water known as a lahar moving down the volcano’s slopes. It said lahars could increase because it is rainy season and warned people to stay away from rivers.

The agency raised the volcano’s alert to the highest level early yesterday and expanded the danger zone to 10 kilometers in places from the previous 7 1/2 kilometers. It said a larger eruption is possible.

Spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho told a news conference in Jakarta that the extension of the danger zone affects 22 villages and about 90,000 to 100,000 people. He said about 40,000 people have evacuated but others have not left because they feel safe or don’t want to abandon their livestock.

“Authorities will comb the area to persuade them,” he said. “If needed we will forcibly evacuate them.” About 25,000 people were already living in evacuation centers after an increase in tremors from the mountain in September sparked an evacuation.

Lava rising in the crater “will certainly spill over to the slopes,” Sutopo said.

The volcano’s last major eruption in 1963 killed about 1,100 people.

Villager Putu Sulasmi said she fled with her husband and other family members to a sports hall that is serving as an evacuation center.

“We came here on motorcycles. We had to evacuate because our house is just 3 miles from the mountain. We were so scared with the thundering sound and red light,” she said.

The family had stayed at the same sports center in September and October when the volcano’s alert was at the highest level for several weeks but it didn’t erupt. They had returned to their village about a week ago.

“If it has to erupt let it erupt now rather than leaving us in uncertainty. I’ll just accept it if our house is destroyed,” she said.

Bali’s airport was closed early yesterday after ash, which can pose a deadly threat to aircraft, reached its airspace.

Flight information boards showed rows of cancellations as tourists arrived at the busy airport expecting to catch flights home.

Airport spokesman Air Ahsanurrohim said 445 flights were canceled, stranding about 59,000 travelers. The closure is in effect until this morning though officials said the situation will be reviewed every six hours. It had a ripple effect across Indonesia, causing delays at other airports because Bali’s I Gusti Ngurah Rai airport is a national hub with many transiting flights.

Bali is Indonesia’s top tourist destination, with its gentle Hindu culture, surf beaches and lush green interior attracting about 5 million visitors a year.

Some flights to and from Bali were canceled on Saturday and Sunday but most had continued to operate normally as the towering ash clouds were moving east toward the neighboring island of Lombok.

“We now have to find a hotel and spend more of our money that they’re not going to cover us for when we get home unfortunately,” said Canadian tourist Brandon Olsen, who was stranded at Bali’s airport with his girlfriend.

Indonesia’s Directorate General of Land Transportation said 100 buses were being deployed to Bali’s international airport and to ferry terminals to help travelers stranded by the eruption.

The agency’s chief, Budi, said major ferry crossing points have been advised to prepare for a surge in passengers and vehicles. Stranded tourists could leave Bali by taking a ferry to neighboring Java and then traveling by land to the nearest airports.

Indonesia’s tourism ministry said member hotels of the Indonesia Hotel and Restaurant Association will provide a night’s free accommodation to people affected by the airport closure.

Ash has settled on villages and resorts around the volcano, and soldiers and police distributed masks over the weekend.

In Karangasem district that surrounds the volcano, tourists stopped to watch the towering plumes of ash as children made their way to school.

Indonesia sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” and has more than 120 active volcanoes.

Mount Agung’s alert status was raised to the highest level in September following a dramatic increase in tremors from the mountain, which prompted more than 140,000 people to leave the area. The alert was lowered on Oct. 29 after a decrease in activity, but about 25,000 people remained in evacuation centers. AP

Bali volcano: What travelers need to know

The Mount Agung volcano on Bali has erupted for the first time in more than half a century, forcing closure of the Indonesian tourist island’s busy airport as the mountain gushes huge columns of ash that are a threat to airplanes. Here’s what travelers need to know.

TRAPPED IN PARADISE

Travelers can still leave Bali, though probably at significant cost, by taking a ferry from Gilimanuk port to Banyuwangi on Java island to the west and then traveling by car, train or plane to the Indonesian capital Jakarta for international connections. Another possible route is a ferry to the neighboring island of Lombok and then a flight to Java though ash temporarily closed Lombok’s airport on Sunday and there could be further closures. The government says it has provided 100 buses to transport people from the international airport to ferry ports. Alternatively, visitors could wait to see if the airport reopens though there’s likely to be long waiting lists for flights when it does. Indonesia’s tourism ministry said member hotels of the Indonesia Hotel and Restaurant Association will provide a night’s free accommodation to guests affected by the airport closure.

HEADING TO BALI

Some governments are advising citizens to defer travel to the island. Malaysia’s foreign ministry said all but non-urgent travel should be delayed while Australia, a big source of tourists for Bali, said people should be aware that ash clouds could also close other airports in Indonesia depending on weather conditions. A spokesman for major Japanese travel bureau JTB Corp. said all tours set to depart Monday from Japan were canceled because of the airport closure. Yoshimi Tajima said some people can’t change their travel dates and are switching to other destinations while others are changing the dates. “What will happen from tomorrow is still unclear,” she said.

LOCAL CONDITIONS

The popular tourist areas of Kuta and Seminyak and the airport are about 70 kilometers from the volcano and largely safe even with a major eruption though masks and goggles could prove necessary if there’s significant ash fall. Authorities have ordered 100,000 people to leave a danger zone that extends 10 kilometers from the crater in places and tourists shouldn’t enter it. The area, which includes a much-visited Hindu temple on the slopes of the volcano, will be prone to deadly mudflows and lava. The risk of mudflows, which combine water and volcanic debris, is high because it’s the wet season in Bali. Authorities have warned people to stay away from rivers.