Great plumes poured out of Mount Agung’s crater on Tuesday during a steam-blast eruption, also known as a “phreatic eruption”, caused by the fierce heat of magma.
The eruption sparked fears that a more violent eruption was on its way and came two months after the volcano alert was raised to its highest level.
The latest seismographs show that volcanic tremors have dropped since mid-October when Agung was being rocked by hundreds of earthquakes everyday.
Is Mount Agung erupting now?
The Bali volcano is not currently erupting, even though it is still producing thick white plumes, according to a volcano expert.
It has entered what is called an “eruptive period” – a spell of high activity that could lead to further eruptions in the coming weeks or months.
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Joachim Gottsmann, professor of volcanology at Bristol University, told Express.co.uk that it is common for volcanic eruptions to start with phreatic activity.
“From what I have seen in video coverage yesterday is that a white plume was visible,” he said.
“This indicates that the eruption was likely not magmatic. Many eruptions at volcanoes such as Agung start with what is called phreatic activity.
“Often but not always magmatic eruptions ensue after a period of phreatic activity.
“Magmatic means that molten rock is either erupted explosively with a dark eruption cloud or effusively in the form of a lava flow.
“All these eruptive activities can occur within short periods of time. A eruptive period may hence have several discreet eruptions.”
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) describes phreatic eruptions as “steam-driven explosions that occur when water beneath the ground or on the surface is heated by magma, lava, hot rocks, or new volcanic deposits.”
Bali’s Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) say phreatic eruptions can be compared to putting drops of cold water in boiling cooking oil.
Despite erupting, Agung’s volcano alert in Bali remains at level three, after being lowered from the maximum level four on October 29.
After the eruption BNPB spokesperson Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said seismic activity has not increased, but warned people to stay out of Agung’s danger zone, which stretches between six and 7.5 kilometres around the volcano.
“The status is still the same – level three,” Mr Sutopo said. “Volcanic activities have not shown any increase in earthquakes.”
At one time more than 145,000 people had abandoned their homes to escape the looming threat of Mount Agung.
This number decreased when the volcano alert was lowered, but there are about 30,000 refugees spread across 278 camps as of Tuesday afternoon, according to the National Disaster Management Agency.