Volcano erupts in Bali; Indonesia shuts airport, 100,000 left stranded

Indonesia’s transportation ministry said on Tuesday it will extend the closure of Bali’s I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport for a further 24 hours because of ash from the eruption of the island’s Mount Agung volcano.

A report from local aviation navigation authorities showed that “aircraft flight channels are covered with volcanic ash” the ministry said in a statement.

Bali airport, about 60 km (37 miles) from the volcano, will be closed until 7 a.m. local time on November 29, it said.

Ten alternative airports have been prepared for airlines to divert inbound flights, including in neighboring provinces.

A separate notice showed Lombok airport had been reopened, after an earlier closure overnight due to the eruption.

Agung rises majestically over eastern Bali to a height of just over 3,000 meters (9,800 feet).

On Monday, authorities ordered 100,000 residents living near the volcano to evacuate immediately, warning that the first major eruption in 54 years could be “imminent”. An 8-10 km (5-6 miles) exclusion zone has been imposed around the summit.

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The world's most destructive volcano has been erupting for past 10 years

The world’s most destructive mud volcano was born near the town of Sidoarjo, on the island of Java, Indonesia, just over 11 years ago – and to this day it has not stopped erupting. The mud volcano known as Lusi started on May 29, 2006, and at its peak disgorged a staggering 180,000 cubic metres of mud every day, burying villages in mud up to 40 metres thick. The worst event of its kind in recorded history, the eruption took 13 lives and destroyed the homes of 60,000 people. But although the mud is still flowing more than a decade later, scientists are not yet agreed on its cause.

The debate is whether the eruption of Lusi was due to an earthquake several days previously, or down to a catastrophic failure of the Banjar Panji 1 gas exploration well that was being drilled nearby at the time. Given the huge impact of the volcano on the communities nearby and the fields that were their livelihoods, why are we still unsure of the cause?

Mud volcanoes are extremely common on Earth, with thousands of examples known worldwide. They come in many shapes and sizes and behave a little like their molten-rock counterparts, going through long periods of inactivity with periodic violent eruptions. Mud volcanoes, however, spew out not molten hot lava from the Earth’s mantle, but usually a cold mixture of gas, water and solids.

Some of the most spectacular examples of mud volcanoes are in Azerbaijan where they can range from a few metres across to the size of a small mountain. They are commonly found at tectonic plate boundaries, and also underwater at river deltas where sediment is buried rapidly, causing unusually high pressures to build up underground. The muddy mix is also pushed to the surface by the buoyant gas it contains. Usually mud volcanoes grow slowly, through layer upon layer of mud. What happened in Sidoarjo in 2006 is unique, with Lusi by far the fastest growing mud volcano we know of, having drowned surrounding houses, factories, places of worship and schools in a foul-smelling, emulsion-like mud.
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10 injured in explosion on erupting Mount Etna volcano

BREAKING NEWS - Volcanic rocks and steam injured at least 10 people, including tourists and scientists, following an explosion on Sicily's Mount Etna today, witnesses and media reported.

Tourists had been drawn to Etna to observe the spectacle of the active volcano erupting, only to be caught by surprise when spewing magma hit snow, causing an explosion. The president of the Italian Alpine Club chapter in Catania, Umberto Marino, was traveling up the volcano in a snowcat when injured people started running in his direction.

"The material thrown into the air fell back down, striking the heads and bodies of people who were closest," Marino was quoted by the Catania Today website as saying.

According to Italian news agency ANSA, six people were hospitalised, mostly with head injuries. None of the injuries was listed as grave.

Among those present on the mountain at the time of the midday explosion were scientists from Italy's volcanology institute. The institute said its staff were among the injured, but did not immediately have details of how many or how badly they were hurt.

The BBC's global science reporter, Rebecca Morelle, also was on the mountain, and described the experience in a series of tweets.

"Running down a mountain pelted by rocks, dodging burning boulders and boiling steam - not an experience I ever ever want to repeat," she wrote.

The BBC crew was shaken, but physically OK, having suffered cuts, bruises and burns, she wrote.

Morelle said the explosion was "a reminder of how dangerous (and) unpredictable volcanoes can be."

Mount Etna has been active for the past two days, creating a visual spectacle as it spews lava and ash into the air. A new lava flow started from the southeastern crater on yesterday.

So far it has not disrupted traffic at the nearby Catania airport or created inconvenience for residents in the area. (READ MORE)