Lombok Earthquakes Calms Mount Agung Volcanic Activity
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January 11, 2019 | 04:20 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The eruption of Mount Agung on Thursday, January 10, 2019, was the second time the mountain had erupted after the previous occurrence in December 20, 2018. Prior to these two eruptions, Mount Agung had been in a state of sleep for five months during the Lombok earthquake.
"This has made it enter the eruption phase of Mount Agung prior to the Lombok earthquake," said Devy K. Syahbana, Head of the Eastern volcano mitigation of the Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation Center (PVMBG) on Thursday, January 10, 2019.
The lack of volcanic activities of Mount Agung is suspected to be linked to the strong earthquake that hit Lombok since both events were parallel to each other.
"The volcanic gasses were unable to accumulate since it was struck by continuous earthquakes," said Devy, "An accumulation of gas must form in order to trigger an eruption," she added.
Currently, Devy believed that the activity of Mount Agung is considerably normal following the dropping amount of aftershocks in the Lombok area. PVMBG announced that the mountain is under Level III status with a 4-kilometer no-go zone perimeter.
AHMAD FIKRI (CONTRIBUTOR)
