The number of people evacuated over the possible eruption of Mount Agung volcano in the Indonesian island of Bali, the country’s major tourist destination, crossed 144,000 on Friday.
Those evacuated were housed in hundreds of shelters across nine districts on the island. Sutopo Purwo Nugroho of the Indonesian National Board for Disaster Management (BNPB) told Efe news that although the exclusion zone established around the volcano was now practically empty, a few residents had refused to leave, unwilling to abandon their livestock.
A 12-km radius exclusion zone was set up around the volcano and the alert level for possible eruption was cranked up to the maximum 4 on September 22.
“If an eruption does occur, it is most likely to be small at first. However, a large eruption may follow,” the head of Centre for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation (CVMPG) said.
