Bali volcano - live updates: Airport reopens while Indonesia urges anyone in danger zone to get out
Authorities raise volcano warning to highest alert level
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Your support makes all the difference.The airport on the holiday island of Bali has reopened after tens of thousands of travellers were stranded for two days due to an erupting volcano, but Indonesia's President said the danger has not passed and urged anyone within the mountain's exclusion zone to get out "for the sake of their safety."
Mount Agung has been hurling clouds of white and dark gray ash about 7,600m (4.7 miles) into the atmosphere and lava is welling up in the crater, though it remains unclear how bad the current situation might get or how long it could last.
Indonesian authorities raised their warning for the volcano to the top level four alert earlier in the week, and told residents around the mountain to immediately evacuate, warning of an "imminent" risk of a larger eruption.
Airport spokesman Arie Ahsannurohim said the volcanic ash has drifted south and southeast, leaving clean space above the airport for planes to land and take off.
It has been closed since Monday morning, disrupting travel for tens of thousands of people.
The closure of the airport had stranded tens of thousands of travellers, affecting tourists already on Bali and people who were ready to fly to the island from abroad or within Indonesia.
President Joko "Jokowi" 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 100,000 people to leave homes nearest the volcano, though tens of thousands stayed because they felt safe or didn't want to abandon livestock.
Nearly 40,000 people are now staying in 225 shelters, according to the Disaster Mitigation Agency in Karangasem.
Mudflows have been seen on the mountain's slopes, and authorities warned more are possible, since it's the rainy season in Bali.
Mount Agung's last major eruption in 1963 killed about 1,100 people.
Indonesia sits on the "Pacific Ring of Fire" and has more than 120 active volcanoes.
Additional reporting by agencies
Cover-More, Australia's biggest travel insurer, said on its website customers would only be covered if they had bought policies before the volcano alert was first issued in September.
Indonesia's hotel and restaurant association said stranded tourists at member hotels would get one night's free stay.
Some governments are advising citizens to defer travel to the island. Malaysia's foreign ministry said all but non-urgent travel should be delayed while Australia has said people should be aware that ash clouds could also close other airports in Indonesia depending on weather conditions.
A spokesman for major Japanese travel bureau JTB Corp. said all tours set to depart set to depart on Monday were cancelled. Yoshimi Tajima said some people can't change their travel dates and are switching to other destinations while others are changing the dates. "What will happen from tomorrow is still unclear," she said.
The Chinese foreign ministry issued a statement urging travelers to be "vigilant about safety" when deciding whether to visit Bali.
Mount Agung reaches a height of more than 3,000 metres. When it last erupted in 1963 it killed more than 1,000 people and razed several villages.
Indonesia has extended the closure of Bali's airport for another 24 hours, until at least 7am local time on Wednesday.
Mount Agung in the northeast of the island, about 40 miles from the airport, continued to erupt into Tuesday local time, sending plumes of smoke and ash about 3,000 metres (9,800 feet) above the crater.
Transport agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said the airport closure was therefore still in effect. He said the airport on neighbouring Lombok had reopened after being closed on Monday night.
Thousands of tourists remain stuck on Indonesia's island of Bali after its airport was closed for a second day due to hazards created by clouds of ash from an erupting volcano.
Mount Agung, which has a history of violent eruptions, began waking up two months ago and prompted mass evacuations near the mountain. Its last major eruption in 1963 killed about 1,100 people.
Here's the latest on the Bali volcano from Simon Clader, The Independent's travel correspondent.
More than 400 flights were canceled and nearly 60,000 passengers stranded yesterday.
NASA detected a thermal anomaly over the weekend, Gede Swantika, a senior volcanologist in Bali, told the Associated Press.
"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."
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