Mount Agung volcano erupted on the Indonesian Island; Bali on Tuesday just weeks after the region was evacuated due to the threat of an eruption.
This was the first eruption since 1963. The explosion was minor and created a plume climbing 2300 feet in the air. As per volcanologists, the reason for the eruption could be attributed to the phreatic explosion caused by magma heating water.
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The alert status of the volcano was raised to level 4, which is the highest warning around late September. More than 140,000 people evacuated the region during this time. However, it was dropped to level 3 in late October, when no explosion took place.
The international airport of Bali remained open, though people that may travel across the region are advised to be aware of the situation as a larger eruption may affect their travel plans.
Due to the threat of an eruption, almost 30,000 people remain in evacuation camps and this number of evacuees may increase further due to the winds which are associated with a tropical disturbance near Bali. This could impact the direction of the ash and smoke spewed by the volcano over the next coming days.
As a consequence, any thick plumes of ash or smoke that makes it to the upper levels of the atmosphere will be directed to the southeast and could affect Australia by next week.
IMAGE CREDIT: straitstimes.com.