TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation Agency on Tuesday, November 21, reports that Mount Agung in Karangasem, Bali, erupted at 17:15 Central Indonesia Time (WITA).
The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) said that the blast at Mount Agung was a phreatic eruption due or steam-blast eruption.
“Water vapor was formed concurrently as underground water or rain water that infiltrates into the ground was heating up in the crater and had direct contact with the magma,” BNPB spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho told Tempo in a phone interview.
Read also: Mt. Agung Erupts, Releases Volcanic Ash and Smoke
He said that a phreatic eruption is accompanied by smoke, ash and materials from the crater. Sutopo said that a phreatic eruption is hard to predict as it often occur suddenly and shows no sign of increase in frequency of seismic activity.
A phreatic eruption is not uncommon if the mount’s status is set above normal, the spokesman said.
Mount Agung phreatic eruption may also lead to a much larger eruption as happened on Mount Sinabung in North Sumatra that saw phreatic eruptions between 2010 and 2013 before a magmatic eruption occurred.
Sutopo added that a magmatic eruption is a more dangerous eruption caused by magma explosion. “A magmatic eruption has signs, measured and can be observed when an eruption is imminent,” he said, regarding the Mount Agung eruption.
ANTARA
