Mount Agung, Gunung Agung-Bali

Mount Agung (Indonesian: Gunung Agung; Balinese) is an active volcano in Bali, Indonesia, southeast of Mount Batur volcano, also in Bali. It is the highest point on Bali, and dominates the surrounding area, influencing the climate, especially rainfall patterns. From a distance, the mountain appears to be perfectly conical. From the peak of the mountain, it is possible to see the peak of Mount Rinjani on the nearby island of Lombok, to the east, although both mountains are frequently covered in clouds. Agung is a stratovolcano, with a large and deep crater. Its most recent eruptions occurred from 2017–2019.

History of eruptions
1843 eruption
Agung erupted in 1843, as recorded in a report by Heinrich Zollinger:

“After having been dormant for a long time, this year the mountain began to be alive again. In the first days of the activity earthquake shocks were felt after which followed the emission of ash, sand and stones.”

1963–64 eruption
The eruption of 1963 was one of the largest and most devastating eruptions in Indonesia’s history.

On February 18, 1963, local residents heard loud explosions and saw clouds rising from the crater of Mount Agung. On February 24, lava began flowing down the northern slope of the mountain, eventually traveling 7 km in the next 20 days. On March 17, the volcano erupted (VEI 5), sending debris 8 to 10 km into the air and generating massive pyroclastic flows. These flows devastated numerous villages, killing an estimated 1,100–1,500 people. Cold lahars caused by heavy rainfall after the eruption killed an additional 200. A second eruption on May 16 led to pyroclastic flows that killed another 200 inhabitants. Minor eruptions and flows followed and lasted almost a year.

The lava flows missed, sometimes by mere metres, the Mother Temple of Besakih. The saving of the temple is regarded by Balinese as miraculous and a signal from the gods that they wished to demonstrate their power but not destroy the monument that the Balinese had erected.

During the eruptions and earthquakes, the wreck of the US transport ship, USAT Liberty, which had been grounded at nearby Tulamben during World War II after being torpedoed by a Japanese submarine, slipped off the beach and settled totally underwater.

Andesite was the dominant lava type with some samples mafic enough to be classified as basaltic andesite. The eruption had global effects on temperatures.

Jungutan, Bebandem, Karangasem Regency, Bali, Indonesia