Bali volcano eruption: Agung and Batur are connected

Bali volcano eruption: Agung and Batur are CONNECTED-scientists warn of huge eruption 

TWO volcano's in Bali are connected by the same 'plumbing' system, scientists have discovered, and there are fears it could cause a MAJOR eruption in the future.

Experts from the University of Bristol found that Bali's deadly Mt Agung is connected to the nearby volcano, Batur. They were analyzing Mt Agung after it erupted in 2017, forcing 100,000 people to leave their homes. Two months prior to this eruption, there was a sharp uptake in earthquake activity in the region. This was also the case when Agung previously erupted in 1963, killing almost 2,000 people.

When Agung erupted more than 50 years, it was accompanied by a smaller eruption at the nearby and smaller Batur.

Scientists have now been analyzing satellite imagery from the European Space Agency of the two volcanoes to see if they are linked and have made a startling discovery.

The researchers found that the two volcanoes share the same plumbing system, and are able to detect when the pair may next erupt.

This has huge implications as it could save many lives in the case of future eruptions and scientists also state that a major blow out is bound to happen there again.

Dr. Fabien Albino, from Bristol's School of Earth Sciences, said: "Surprisingly, we noticed that both the earthquake activity and the ground deformation signal were located five kilometers away from the summit, which means that magma must be moving sideways as well as vertically upwards.

"Our study provides the first geophysical evidence that Agung and Batur volcanoes may have a connected plumbing system. 

This has important implications for eruption forecasting and could explain the occurrence of simultaneous eruptions such as in 1963."

From satellite images, the researchers could see that earthquakes moving magma had pushed the ground up by almost 10 centimeters prior to the eruptions.

Study lead author Dr Juliet Biggs said: "From remote sensing, we are able to map out any ground motion which may be an indicator that fresh magma is moving beneath the volcano."