Bali volcano: Mount Agung spews 8,200ft column of ash, closing airports and affecting 75,000

Indonesia sits on the Pacific 'Ring of Fire' and is prone to earthquakes and eruptions

An erupting volcano on Indonesia‘s holiday island of Bali closed an international airport for nearly 12-hours after it spewed a 8,200ft column of ash and smoke for a second day.

Nearly 450 flights were cancelled on Friday, affecting around 75,000 people, according to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency.

Mount Agung has rumbled to life intermittently since last year, forcing the evacuation of tens of thousands of people.

The disaster agency said there was no ash in the airspace around Ngurah Rai International Airport and the airport reopened at 2.30pm, though airlines remain wary.

Volcanic ash poses a potentially catastrophic threat to aircraft, as it can cause engines to “flame out".

It can also clog fuel and cooling systems, and hamper visibility.

Two small airports, at Banyuwangi and Jember in eastern Java, were also forced to close because of the threat posed by ash.

There was no indication of how long the eruption might last, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho of the disaster agency said in a statement.

“Micro tremors are still being detected ... indicating that magma is moving towards the surface,” Mr Nugroho added.

Operations at Bali’s airport were disrupted for more than a week in December, stranding thousands of visitors before the volcano calmed down and winds changed to blow the smoke away.

Agung towers over eastern Bali at a height of just over 9,800ft.

Its last major eruption, in 1963, killed around 1,100 people and razed several villages.

After its dramatic increase in activity last year, it had quietened down and its alert status was lowered from the highest level in February.

Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 250 million people, sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” and is prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

Government seismologists are monitoring more than 120 active volcanoes.