The volcano alert on Mount Agung in Bali has been lowered from ‘dangerous’ (level four) to ‘high alert’ (level three) after decreased volcanic activity.
“Based on Gunung Agung’s technical data, seismic activity has dropped dramatically in the first three days since October 20, and slowly declined thereafter to this day,” said Kasbani, head of the Center for Volcanology and Disaster Hazard Mitigation (PVMBG) under the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources.
Drones were deployed to observe activity at the crater and “consistency in thermal and visual data prompted us to lower the status”, Kasbani elaborated.
The danger zone has been decreased from 12km to 7.5km and nine to six kilometres in some areas.
Mount Agung volcanic activity was first raised to high alert on September 18, before being bumped up to dangerous from September 22, triggering booking cancellations to Bali.
PVMBG will continue to monitor the development of Mount Agung’s volcanic activity together with the Regional Disaster Management Agency of Bali Province.
