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Evacuees, a Closed Airport, and an Exploding Volcano: Images from Mount Agung, Bali

Nov. 28, 2017
8 min read
Evacuees, a Closed Airport, and an Exploding Volcano: Images from Mount Agung, Bali
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After Mount Agung's eruption on the Indonesian resort island of Bali, locals and tourists are scrambling for refuge as authorities have issued the highest-level warning possible. Ngurah Rai International Airport (DPS) has closed and canceled all flights. People are scrambling to find a way out of Bali.

The level IV warning was issued due to what is called a phreatomagmatic eruption, which occurs when magma comes in direct contact with water. The volcano then emits enormous amounts of steam as well as gases and pyroclastic material.

Eruption of Mount Agung in Bali, Indonesia, on November 28, 2017. The status of Mount Agung disaster increased to level IV. This is because the type of phreatic eruption (smoke and material gas eruption) has turned into a magmatic phase. In the type of phreatomagmatic eruption, usually occurs magma event that erupts in direct contact with water in the crater lake. Photo by Keyza Widiatmika/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Photo by Keyza Widiatmika/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Some Balinese locals are seeking refuge in evacuation centers after Agung erupted a second time within a week. The photo below shows people in a shelter in the Klungkung Regency.

Balinese stay the night at an evacuation centre after Mt. Agung volcano erupted for a second time within a week, at the Klungkung Regency. Photo by SONNY TUMBELAKA/AFP/Getty Images
Photo by Sonny Tumbelaka/AFP/Getty Images

9,900-foot Agung is in the background as people ride in a truck in the Kubu sub-district in the Karangasem Regency.

Balinese people ride on an open car past Mount Agung erupting seen from Kubu sub-district in Karangasem Regency. Photo by SONNY TUMBELAKA/AFP/Getty Images
Photo by Sonny Tumbelaka/AFP/Getty Images

Elementary school students are seen wearing face masks, as urged by the government, to protect themselves from the active volcano. Schools were in session until Tuesday, November 28. With the government raising the warning to its highest level, everything within a seven-mile radius of Mount Agung is facing a mandatory evacuation.

Elementary school students with face masks pose for a photo in a school ground before school in Rendang village of Karangasem, Bali, Indonesia on November 28, 2017. Until today, the students are still in school as usual, even though the government increased the volcano alert to highest level in 7 kilometer radius range of Mount Agung and extend the closure of I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport, Bali. Photo by Mahendra Moonstar/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Photo by Mahendra Moonstar/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Here Mount Agung erupts in the background of this photo from Kubu, Karangasem Regency. The ash and steam reach up to 6,000 m, or 20,000 ft, in the sky.

Mount Agung volcano erupts as seen from Kubu, Karangasem Regency, Bali, Indonesia. Photo by Dasril Roszandi/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Photo by Dasril Roszandi/NurPhoto via Getty Images

A flight information screen shows the list of cancelled flights due to the eruption at the Ngurah Rai International airport in Denpasar, Bali. Nearly 60,000 travelers have been stranded and over 400 flights have been cancelled as of Tuesday.

A flight information board shows the list of delayed flights due to the volcano at the Ngurah Rai International airport in Denpasar, Bali. Photo by JUNI KRISWANTO/AFP/Getty Images
Photo by Juni Kriswanto/AFP/Getty Images
Mount Agung is seen spewing heavy volcanic ash. Photo by Andri Tambunan / Getty Images
Photo by Andri Tambunan / Getty Images
General view of Mount Agung during an eruption while spewing volcanic ash into the sky. Photo by Andri Tambunan/Getty Images
Photo by Andri Tambunan/Getty Images
Villagers prepare for an independent evacuation in the Selat village. Photo by Solo Imaji / Barcroft Media via Getty Images
Villagers prepare for an independent evacuation in Selat village. Photo by Solo Imaji / Barcroft Media via Getty Images

In the photo below, passengers are lining up at the Ngurah Rai International airport to wait for possible flights off the island. The airport was initially closed for 24 hours till early morning Tuesday, but authorities extended that to Wednesday morning with ash reaching the airport's airspace. Travelers are able to leave the island by taking a ferry from Gilimanuk to Banyuwangi on the nearby island ofJava and then making way by plane, train or car to Jakarta for International connections.

Passengers gather at the Ngurah Rai International airport in Denpasar, Bali on November 28, 2017 to wait for possible flights out following Mount Agung's volcano eruption. Photo by JUNI KRISWANTO/AFP/Getty Images
Photo by Juni Kriswanto/AFP/Getty Images

In the image below, a resident of the Karangasem Regency moves his cattle out of possible harm as Mount Agung erupts.

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A farmer moves his cattle as Mount Agung erupts seen from Kubu sub-district in Karangasem Regency. Photo by SONNY TUMBELAKA/AFP/Getty Images
Photo by Sonny Tumbeleaka/AFP/Getty Images

The predominant religion in Bali is Hindu and here, a group of Balinese Hindus pray near Agung in Muntig village to prevent the volcano from erupting and destroying their village.

Balinese Hindus take part in a ceremony, where they pray near Mount Agung in hope of preventing a volcanic eruption, in Muntig village of the Kubu sub-district in Karangasem Regency. Photo by SONNY TUMBELAKA/AFP/Getty Images
Photo by Sonny Tumbeleaka/AFP/Getty Images

Passengers waiting at the Ngurah Rai International airport to wait for possible flights off the island. The government says it has provided 100 buses to transport people from the international airport to ferry ports.

Passengers gather at the Ngurah Rai International airport in Denpasar, Bali on November 28, 2017 to wait for possible flights out following Mount Agung's volcano eruption. Photo by JUNI KRISWANTO/AFP/Getty Images
Photo by Juni Kriswanto/AFP/Getty Images

Evacuees, like the ones below, have started building temporary shelters like this one at Rendang Evacuation Center in Karangasem, on Bali. Indonesia's tourism ministry said members of the Indonesia Hotel and Restaurant Association are providing free accommodations to guests who were affected by the airport closure.

Evacuees are seen unloading building material for their temporary shelter at Rendang Evacuation Center on November 27, 2017 in Karangasem, Island of Bali, Indonesia. Photo by Andri Tambunan/Getty Images
Photo by Andri Tambunan/Getty Images
People seen cold lava from Mount Agung eruption flows at Rendang village, Karangasem regency. Photo by Solo Imaji / Barcroft Media via Getty Images
Cold lava from the Mount Agung eruption flows near the village of Rendang. Photo by Solo Imaji / Barcroft Media via Getty Images

A tourist is seen taking a picture in front of the erupting volcano. Up to 100,000 people have been instructed to evacuate the area.

A foreign tourist takes pictures in front of Mount Agung erupting seen from Kubu sub-district in Karangasem Regency, on Indonesia's resort island of Bali on November 27, 2017. An eruption could be imminent at the volcano belching huge plumes of smoke on Indonesia's resort island of Bali, officials warned, as they raised the alert to the highest level and increased the exclusion zone. (Photo by SONNY TUMBELAKA/AFP/Getty Images)
Photo by Sonny Tumbeleaka/AFP/Getty Images
Featured image by Elementary school students with face masks pose for a photo in a school ground before school in Rendang village of Karangasem, Bali, Indonesia on November 28, 2017. Until today, the students are still in school as usual, even though the government increased the volcano alert to highest level in 7 kilometer radius range of Mount Agung and extend the closure of I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport, Bali. Photo by Mahendra Moonstar/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images