JAKARTA, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- An official at monitoring post for Gunung Agung volcano in Indonesia's resort Island of Bali has warned people to be alert as authorities have been preparing for evacuation.
Gunung Agung volcano in Karang Asem district has showed a rise in seismic activity recently, prompting the country's volcanology agency to increase its alert status to the second highest level on Monday night, with extension of dangerous zone to 7.5 km in the north, south, southeast and southwest of the volcano, according to head of mitigation department of the agency Devy Kamil Syahbana.
"Although the frequency of tremor is not as high as those two days ago, people have to remain alert," an official in charge at the monitoring post told Xinhua in a text message on Wednesday.
Head of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency Willem Rampangilei has visited the island to ensure full preparation for the eruption, including evacuation.
"The purpose of my visit here is to check all the preparation. Whether the early warning system can function in line with the procedures, and if eruption occurs, how is the plan for evacuation and where the location for the evacuation," he told Xinhua Wednesday.
In other parts, the dangerous zone has been declared in the radius of 6 km from the crater, Syahbana said.
Bali island, the center of Indonesia's tourism industry, is visited by a total of about 200,000 foreign tourists every month, according to the national statistics bureau.
Gunung Agung volcano, with a height of 3,031 meters , last erupted in 1963-1964. It is still active, with a large and very deep crater which occasionally belches smoke and ash.
Indonesia, an archipelagic nation with over 17,500 islands, has a total of 129 active volcanoes.
