Mount Agung, Indonesian Gunung Agung (“Great Mountain”), Dutch Piek Van Bali (“Peak of Bali”), volcano, northeastern Bali, Indonesia. The highest point in Bali and the object of traditional veneration, it rises to a height of 9,888 feet (3,014 m). In 1963 it erupted after being dormant for 120 years; some 1,600 people were killed and 86,000 left homeless.
After more than 100 years of slumber, Mt. Agung came back to life on February 18, 1963. Loud noises and a cloud rising from the crater were noticed, then the ejection of bombs and blocks.
On February 24, 1963, highly viscous lava flows began to travel down the northern flank of the volcano, reaching a length of 7 km in about 18 to 20 days and an elevation of 510 m above sea level. The flows were about 0.5-0.8 km wide and 30-40 m thick. Rough estimates indicate a total volume of these flows of about 50 million cubic meters.
After that phase, the eruption became more and more explosive, and on March 17, 1963, the paroxysmal sub-Plinian eruption took place, generating a eruptino column of 8-10 km height that collapsed to form devastating pyroclastic flows. These flows reached distances of up to 15 km from the crater following vallezs to the south and east, at speeds of about 60 km/hour. Many villages were destroyed and more than 1000 people lost their lives. Heavy tephra fall occurred in areas west of the volcano, where up to 50-70 cm of ash were deposited.
In May, the south peak of the crater wall collapsed, lowering its height for about 200 meters. The lowest crater wall at present is the upper end of Langon river (2600 m).
According to one Balinese myth, the deities made mountains for their thrones and placed the highest, Mount Agung, in Bali. According to another myth, the deities found the island of Bali unstable and wobbling and, to still it, set down upon it the holy mountain of Hinduism, Mahameru, renamed
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