Mount Agung facts: How big and powerful is the Bali volcano?
MOUNT Agung is belching out plumes of ash and gas as it continues to erupt in Bali. Here is everything you need to know about the majestic volcano.
After starting to erupt at the weekend, experts are warning that Mount Agung could be building up to a more violent explosion.
Tens of thousands of locals have been forced to abandon their homes to escape the volcano, which first started showing signs of increased activity on September 22.
A state of emergency on the island has been extended to at least December 10, after the volcano alert was pushed up to it highest level last week.
Mount Agung is a deadly yet breathtaking natural phenomenon. Here is everything you need to know about the volcano.
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Mount Agung factfile
Mount Agung, known as Gunung Agung in Indonesia, translates into English as 'Paramount' or 'The Holy Mountain'.
At 3,031 metres (9,944ft), the volcano dominates the Balinese landscape and from its peak it is often possible to see Mount Rinjani on the neighbouring island of Lombok.
Agung is a deeply spiritual place for locals and is home to Bali’s most sacred temple, Pura Besakih, which stands high on the volcano's slopes.
At the start of this month residents flocked back to Pura Besakih in the volcano’s danger zone to commemorate the festival of Galungan - a 10-day Hindu gathering that celebrates the victory of good over evil.
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Mount Agung latest pictures: Volcano eruption begins
Thu, November 30, 2017Indonesian authorities raised the state of alert to its highest level for the volcano, Mount Agung, after thick ash started shooting thousands of meters into the air with increasing intensity
A plume of smoke above Mount Agung volcano is illuminated at sunset as seen from Amed, Karangasem Regency, Bali
Agung is classed as a stratovolcano or composite volcano, meaning it is built up of layers of hardened lava and ash.
It has developed a summit that stretches about 1.5 kilometres east to west and 800m-wide crater.
Stratovolcanoes are notorious for exploding violently and causing deadly pyroclastic flows.
Before last week, Mount Agung had only three or four recorded major eruptions.
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The most famous of these came nearly 55 years ago in 1963 when a series of eruptions killed more than 1,100 people on the island.
Agung produced multiple pyroclastic flows and deadly mudflows known as lahars.
Sometime referred to as cold lava, lahars have already been seen tearing down the slopes of the volcano this time around.
The Bali volcano sits the Pacific Ring of Fire in Indonesia, which is home to 130 active volcanoes, making it the country with the biggest volcanic threat to life.
The Ring of Fire, which is comprised of 450 volcanoes in total, circles the Pacific Ocean and accounts for 90 per cent of the world’s earthquakes.
