Is Bali safe?

Resort island is rocked by the threat of a volcanic eruption AND a tsunami following massive earthquake as thousands of Aussie families fly in for school holidays

An undersea earthquake with a magnitude of 5.7 struck off the coast of Bali

The quake was detected north-east of Kemeduran and sparked tsunami fears

Quake was 125km north-east of Surabaya and had a depth of 588km

It's the latest in a series of earthquakes that have rocked 'The Ring of Fire'


Daily Mail, 21 September 2017

A huge undersea earthquake has struck off the coast of Bali, Indonesia, just days before thousands of families are expected to flock to the popular holiday destination for the school break.

The 5.7 magnitude quake was detected 125km northeast of Surabaya, Java, on Thursday, the US Geological Survey has confirmed.

With a measured at a depth of 588km, the quake immediately sparked fears of a tsunami and an eruption from Mount Agung volcano.



Bali is a favoured destination among Australians, with numerous families expected to fly to the island when school holidays begin in New South Wales, Western Australia and Victoria on Friday.

School holidays in Queensland began on September 15.

Children in South Australia, Northern Territory and Tasmania will start their break on September 29.

The earthquake is the latest in a series of intense earthquakes that have rocked New Zealand, Vanuatu, Indonesia, Japan and Mexico - 'the Pacific Ring Of Fire' - in the last 48-hours.



Although an official tsunami warning has not been issued, locals living near Mount Agung volcano were seen evacuating their homes following increased seismic activity in Karangasem.

One woman was pictured loading numerous items from her home into a truck before covering them with a tarp.

Groups of people were also seen gathering at a lookout point to watch Mount Agung for eruption following the quake.

Officials significantly increased the size of the evacuation zone around the volcano on Monday, raising the alert level to high.

'We see that the earthquake frequency is very high, this is worrying when it comes to eruption,' Pak Kasbani, the head of the Centre for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation, told ABC.

'The areas should be closed, no hiking because the seismic activity will trigger dangerous gas.'

No volcanic ash has been seen, but smoke is rising from the crater, he said.

Bali's Governor Made Mangku Pastika told locals this week measures were in place to handle an eruption and urged them to remain calm.

'This is a natural disaster, we cannot avoid it, we can't stop it exploding but we can reduce the number of victims and loses,' he said.

'If you have to evacuate, you evacuate.'

The earthquake in Indonesia came just hours after a powerful 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck near Vanuatu.

The earthquake struck Erromago, an island in the Vanuatu archipelago roughly 135 kilometres south of the capital city of Port Vila, at 7.09am local time on Thursday.

Initial fears of a tsunami threat across the Pacific region were squashed after it was revealed the earthquake struck at a depth of 200 kilometres.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center confirmed there were no tsunami threats following the Vanuatu quake.

'Based on all available data a destructive Pacific-wide tsunami is not expected and there is no tsunami threat to Hawaii,' the centre said.

There have been no reports yet detailing the extent of damage done to Erromago, a tiny island with a population of just under 2,000 people.


(Slightly edited by siK.)


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