PVMBG reported that at 1923 on 24 May an explosion at Agung ejected incandescent material radially onto the flanks as far as 3 km from the crater rim, setting fire to some vegetation. A dense gray-white ash plume rose 2 km and, based on satellite data, drifted SW, causing thick ashfall in several villages to the S. Roaring was audible from the Agung Volcano Observatory in Rendang (about 8 km SW). According to a news article several flights to and from Australia were cancelled or diverted, though the International Gusti Ngurah Rai (IGNR) airport (60 km SW) in Denpasar was not closed. The Alert Level remained at 3 (on a scale of 1-4) with the exclusion zone set at a 4-km radius.

Geological Summary. Symmetrical Agung stratovolcano, Bali's highest and most sacred mountain, towers over the eastern end of the island. The volcano, whose name means "Paramount," rises above the SE rim of the Batur caldera, and the northern and southern flanks extend to the coast. The summit area extends 1.5 km E-W, with the high point on the W and a steep-walled 800-m-wide crater on the E. The Pawon cone is located low on the SE flank. Only a few eruptions dating back to the early 19th century have been recorded in historical time. The 1963-64 eruption, one of the largest in the 20th century, produced voluminous ashfall along with devastating pyroclastic flows and lahars that caused extensive damage and many fatalities.

Sources: Pusat Vulkanologi dan Mitigasi Bencana Geologi (PVMBG, also known as CVGHM), Badan Nacional Penanggulangan Bencana (BNPB), The Jakarta Post