Volcano gushing ash over Bali closes airport for a 2nd day

A volcano gushing towering columns of ash closed the airport on the Indonesian tourist island of Bali for a second day Tuesday, disrupting travel for tens of thousands, as authorities renewed their warnings for villagers to leave.

Mount Agung has been hurling clouds of white and dark gray ash about 4,000 metres high and lava is welling in the crater.

The local airport authority said Tuesday that closure for another 24 hours was required for safety reasons. Volcanic ash poses a deadly threat to aircraft, and ash from Agung is moving south-southwest toward the airport. Ash has reached a height of about 9,100 metres as it drifts across the island.

"I don't know, we can't change it," said stranded German tourist Gina Camp, sitting on a bench at the airport. "It's the nature and we have to wait until it's over."

Highest alert level

She decided to look on the bright side, saying she planned to go back outside to enjoy another day on the island.

Indonesia's National Disaster Mitigation Agency raised the volcano's alert to the highest level Monday and expanded an exclusion zone to 10 kilometres from the crater. It said a larger eruption is possible, though a top government volcanologist has also said the volcano could continue for weeks at its current level of activity and not erupt explosively.

NASA detected a thermal anomaly over the weekend, said Gede Swantika, a senior volcanologist in Bali.

"It means that there's a direct conduit from the magma storage chambers in the crust up to the surface," said Richard Arculus, a volcano expert at Australian National University. "What stops most eruptions from happening is that you don't have a conduit from where the magma's reached, to the surface. Once you've got that opened ... it means there's easier access for the magma upward out into the open."

Agung's last major eruption in 1963 killed about 1,100 people.

Authorities have told 100,000 people to leave homes that are in close proximity to the volcano, though as of Monday tens of thousands stayed because they felt safe or didn't want to abandon livestock. They have also warned people of the danger of mudflows from the volcano as it's now rainy season in Bali.

'We were so scared'

Putu Sulasmi, whose house is just 3 miles from Agung, was staying with her husband and other family members at a sports hall being used as an evacuation center. She described thundering sounds and a red glow — the lava that has been lighting up the ash clouds atop the crater.

"If it has to erupt, let it erupt now rather than leaving us in uncertainty. I'll just accept it if our house is destroyed," she said.

Almost 60,000 affected

Volcanologist Erik Klemetti at Dennison University in Ohio said Agung's 1963 eruption was big enough to cool the earth slightly but it's unclear whether this time it will have a similar major eruption or simmer for a prolonged period.

"A lot of what will happen depends on the magma underneath and what it is doing now," he said.

The closure of the airport has stranded tens of thousands of travelers, affecting tourists already on Bali and people who were ready to fly to the island from abroad or within Indonesia. Airport spokesperson Ari Ahsanurrohim said more than 440 inward and outward flights were cancelled Tuesday and about 59,500 travellers were affected, similar numbers to Monday.

Bali is Indonesia's top tourist destination, with its Hindu culture, surf beaches and lush green interior attracting about five million visitors a year.

Java an option

Buses were deployed to the airport and to ferry terminals to help stranded travelers, Indonesia's Directorate General of Land Transportation said.

The agency's chief, Budi, said major ferry crossing points have been advised to prepare for a surge in passengers and vehicles. Stranded tourists could leave Bali by taking a ferry to Java and then travelling by land to the nearest airports.

Ash has settled on villages and resorts around the volcano and disrupted daily life outside the immediate danger zone.

"Ash that covered the trees and grass is very difficult for us because the cows cannot eat," said Made Kerta Kartika from Buana Giri village. "I have to move the cows from this village."

Indonesia sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire" and has more than 120 active volcanoes.