Bali’s Mount Agung, 75 kilometres (47 miles) from the resort hub of Kuta, has been shaking since August and threatening to erupt for the first time since 1963. AFP photo
JAKARTA: Many villagers, who had taken shelter in safer grounds in Bali resort island, have come back to their home although strongly barred by authorities as Mount Agung volcano in the island could erupt at any moment, China’s Xinhua news agency reported a senior official of Indonesian disaster agency as saying on Saturday.
The authority in the island has extended emergency status for another 14 days since Friday as seismic activity of Mount Agung in Karang Asem district remains high, said Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman of national disaster management agency.
“Some evacuees have returned to their home although they were strongly prohibited, because it is dangerous,” Sutopo told Xinhua in a text message.
The evacuees said they were bored staying in evacuation center and aimed at taking care of their farmland and livestock, according to the spokesman.
The authorities keep urging those returning home to come back to evacuation center, he added.
The spokesman did not elaborate on the precise figure of the evacuees returning home, but he said that the number of people escaping the dangerous zone decreased to 139,199 in 399 evacuation centers on Saturday, compared with 146,769 in 427 evacuation centers on Oct 5.
Mount Agung with a height of 3,031 meters has been on the highest alert status since Sept 22 with a total of 360 tectonic tremors.
No-go zone has been extended to 12 kilometres from the crater in the north, northeast, south, southeast and southwest.
Mount Agung volcano last erupted in 1963, killing about 1,100 people. – Bernama