Bali Volcano Spews Molten Ash, ‘Explosive Eruption’ May Be Imminent

A volcano on the Indonesian tourist island of Bali spewed molten ash and steam reaching 13,000 feet into the air Sunday.

Airlines issued a "red warning" about the danger of volcanic ash, leaving thousands of tourists stranded as flights got canceled, officials said. The red warning means an eruption is forecast to be imminent. This is the third day in a week that Mount Agung has shown signs of activity.

The island's main airport was operating normally, but some airlines decided to cancel flights, fearing the volcanic ash could damage plane engines. Virgin Australia, Qantas, KLM and Jetstar were among the airlines that canceled its flights since the emission from the Indonesian island volcano this week.

"The activity of Mount Agung has entered the magmatic eruption phase, it is still spewing ash at the moment, but we need to monitor and be cautious over the possibility of a strong, explosive eruption," volcanologist Gede Suantika told Reuters.

Mount Agung, which reaches nearly 10,000 feet into the sky and is the highest point in Bali, stirred to life in September, forcing 140,000 people to leave the area.

Mount Agung’s last major eruption was in 1963 when about 1,100 people were killed.

"We will continue to see eruptions like this on similar scales, but we cannot predict when Mount Agung will really erupt," a senior volcanologist said, according to Sky News.