ABC News, 25/09/2017
The tremors rocking Bali's Mount Agung are continuing to increase in intensity and frequency, suggesting an eruption is imminent.
Seismographs connected to monitoring equipment on the volcano recorded more than 800 tremors until 6:00pm yesterday.
The tremors are caused by magma pushing towards the surface. The majority of earthquakes are also shallower than in previous days, which vulcanologists say is significant.
Bali has declared a state of natural disaster, which means that regencies across the island are compelled to set up shelters for evacuees.
So far, more than 35,000 people have moved to temporary accommodation and that number could rise to 70,000 following an eruption, Governor I Made Mangku Pastika said.
About 600 police have been trying to get stragglers to move out of an exclusion zone set up between 9 and 12 kilometres from the volcano's crater.
Yesterday they were patrolling the villages on the fringes of the evacuation zone, helping locals to shift their belongings, and encouraging them to get out while there was still time.
"The hardest work in handling disasters is evacuating people, telling people to evacuate is not easy, especially in Bali," Mr Pastika said.
He urged tourists to stay away from the evacuation zones.
"Please don't get any closer, we are busy handling evacuees. We don't want anything to happen to them," he said.
Most residents had left the village of Selat, which is inside the evacuation zone and about 9 kilometres from the volcano.
But the main street was busy with local business people and farmers who had returned to salvage what they could from their livelihoods.
Local farmer Wayan Suparna said he had already left his home but was returning to get his cattle out — he and other locals were struggling to get the cows aboard their trucks. "We use them to plough our fields," he said.
"We're getting them out because the mountain is about to erupt."
'The mountain will erupt, like a pregnant woman will give birth'
He said opportunists were already moving through the evacuation zones offering cheap prices for cattle left behind.
"We don't want to sell for those prices," he said, "Let's say the price is around 12 million ($1,150), now they're offering only 4 to 5 million tops ($380 to 480), "They're using this opportunity to make money."
Other locals were taking stock from their stores.
Ketut Sumidra was shifting heavy photocopiers out of his small business — he said he was not worried about looters.
"I need to save my machine from the pyroclastic gases," he said, "I'm trying to anticipate what will happen."
"If Mount Agung explodes, then our business is ready to be revived," he said.
Subur, another evacuee, was shifting a ute-load of gear, including his motorbike. "This is my last trip — I've been doing it for three days," he said. "I'm worried for the future. The explosion doesn't really matter, "I'm worried for the economy, if I get hit. How much will it cost, who will pay for it, how will I be able to afford to eat?"
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zo 24 sep 2017 - 23:18