IndiaToday.in | Edited by Mohak Gupta
New Delhi, November 29, 2017 | UPDATED 19:00 IST
Bali airport has been reopened after Mount Agung eruption. According to an expert, the volcanic eruption's worst-case scenario is tantamount to World Trade Center collapsing in New York on 9/11.
Photo for representation: AP Photo/Firdia LisnawatiOn Wednesday, the airport on the Indonesian resort island of Bali reopened after an erupting volcano compelled the authorities to close it down two days ago.
Indonesian president Joko Widodo said that the danger still stands at their door and urged anyone within the mountain's exclusion zone to get out "for the sake of their safety".
According to reports on web, several Indians were also stuck there and asked the government to fly them out. Also, there were due travel advisory issued which they chose to disregard.
Volcanic ash, which reached 7,600 metres in the air began shifting south and southeast of Mount Agung. This has left clean space above the airport for planes to land and take off, airport spokesman Arie Ahsannurohim said.
The airport in Bali handles more than 400 flights a day but was closed on Monday. This disrupted travel for tens of thousands of people trying to enter or leave the popular travel destination.
The thick particles of volcanic eruptions are hazardous to aircraft and can kill engines.
The airport, which handles more than 400 flights a day, had closed Monday, disrupting travel for tens of thousands of people trying to enter or leave the popular vacation destination. Thick ash particles are hazardous to aircraft and can choke engines.
Despite the all-clear from authorities, flights are unlikely to rapidly return to normal levels and a change in the direction of the ash or a new more powerful eruption could force the airport's closure again.
THE BALI DISASTER
Indonesian President Joko Widodo ordered all concerned ministries and agencies, as well as the military and police, to help Bali's government deal with the disaster.
"I hope there will be no victims hit by the eruption," he said.
Authorities have told 1,00,000 people to leave an area extending up to 10 km in places from the volcano as it throws out grey and white plumes.
As many as 40,000 people are now staying in 225 shelters, according to the Disaster Mitigation Agency in Karangasem. But tens of thousands more have remained in their homes because they feel safe or don't want to abandon their land and livestock.
In the village of Tulamben inside the exclusion zone, farmers were plowing their fields with cattle on Wednesday, seemingly unbothered by the smoking mountain behind them swelling with orange lava.
In Sukadana village, about 8 kilometers from the crater, a few remaining residents said mud-flows of volcanic debris and water had passed through the area for a couple of days before solidifying.
TRAVEL STORIES AMID MOUNT AGUNG ERUPTION
Several stranded tourists managed to get off the island before the airport reopened, but they faced an arduous journey involving crowded roads, buses, ferries and sometimes overnight waits in yet another airport in Surabaya on the island of Java.
"This is a very unforgettable experience for us. So much hassle and definitely one for the books," Sheryl David, a tourist from Manila, Philippines, who arrived Saturday in Bali with three friends and was supposed to leave Tuesday said.
She remained stuck in a third airport on Wednesday in the capital, Jakarta, waiting for a flight home that required buying a new ticket, but said the experience didn't dampen her feelings about the island.
"Yes, still a paradise," she texted.
ERUPTION AND ANALOGY
The volcano's last major eruption, in 1963, killed about 1,100 people, but it is unclear how bad the current situation might get or how long it could last. A worst-case scenario would involve an explosive eruption that causes the mountain's cone to collapse.
"An analogy would be the twin towers collapsing in New York on 9/11," said Richard Arculus, a volcano expert at Australian National University.
"You saw people running away from the debris raining down and columns of dust pursuing people down the street. You will not be able to outrun this thing."
Indonesian officials first raised the highest alert two months ago when seismic activity increased at the mountain. The activity decreased by late October, and the alert was lowered before being lifted to the highest level again Monday.
Indonesia sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire" and has more than 120 active volcanoes, and for them there, it's always escalating.