Bali volcano update LIVE: Mount Agung eruption IMMINENT – latest graphs, news, maps

  • Mount Agung in Bali is expected to erupt imminently.
  • Bali has evacuated more than 75,000 people ahead of the expected eruption.
  • Indonesia issued the highest level of volcano alert possible on Saturday.
  • More than 1,000 earthquakes have been recorded ih the past two days.

Bringing you the latest news, live updates, seismic graphs, maps and warnings on Bali’s Mount Agung. All times BST.

8.00am: Earth’s temperature could drop after Bali eruption

Mount Agung’s eruption would likely cause global temperatures to fall, a volcanology expert has warned.

Dr Teresa Ubide of the University of Queensland warned that the drop could impact food sources.

“Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines decreased global temperatures by half a degree Celcius for the following two years after it erupted,” she told nine.com.au.

“That half a degree can affect absolutely everything.”

The last time Agung erupted in 1963, the huge amounts of sulphur pumped into the atmosphere caused the world’s temperature to decrease by 0.1C to 0.14C.

Another eruption could also see lava of up to 800C destroy nearby forest, crops, livestock and homes.

7.00am: Bali eruption ‘hours away’

Bali’s volcano could erupt in a “matter of hours” – Kasbani, the head of Indonesia’s volcanology centre has said – after it recorded unprecedented levels of seismic activity.

Mount Agung experienced 844 volcanic earthquakes on Monday and 300 to 400 by midday yesterday, including a magnitude 4.2 quake at 11am BST yesterday.

“Instrumentally we have never recorded such high energy or seismicity from Mount Agung,” Devy Kamil Syahbana, a seismologist from Indonesia’s centre for volcanology and geological hazard mitigation, told the Guardian.

“We need to pay attention because these kinds of earthquakes indicate the movement of magma and increase the probability of an eruption.”

He added that it is impossible to predict exactly when the volcano will erupt.

“There is no volcanologist in the world who could predict it precisely,” he said. 

“Volcanoes are a stochastic system, many complexities are unknown by the human brain and technology.”

More than 75,000 people living near the mountain have been evacuated from their homes in the past few days after Indonesia issued the highest level of volcano alert possible on Saturday and imposed a 12km exclusion zone.

Thousands are living in temporary shelters at town halls and in schools.

The Foreign Office has warned Britons planning to visit Bali that “an eruption is possible in the next 24 hours”.

A statement said: ”You should follow the advice of the local authorities and stay outside the exclusion zone. If there is an eruption, volcanic ash clouds could cause flight disruptions.

“In the event of volcanic ash clouds you should confirm your travel arrangements directly with your airline or travel agent before travelling to the airport.”