Indonesia ; An eruption of Indonesia’s Mount Anak Krakatau forced eight airports to suspend flight operations on Sunday, stranding tens of thousands of travelers and prompting regional governments to order remote learning for schools.
The eruption, which began late Friday, sent vast columns of volcanic ash as high as 50,000 feet (15,000 meters) into the atmosphere. Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Jakarta was forced to halt operations, causing the disruption or cancellation of 964 flights at the main hub alone.
Nationwide, transportation authorities confirmed that the airport closures affected more than 1,500 flights and 170,000 passengers, with major carriers like Singapore Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia, and Lion Air Group grounding flights to and from Jakarta.
Key developments following the eruption include:
Indonesia’s disaster mitigation agency (BNPB) announced plans for weather modification operations, including cloud seeding, to generate heavy rainfall and wash away airborne volcanic ash.
Governors in Jakarta and Lampung ordered schools to shift to remote learning starting Monday to protect students from respiratory and eye irritation caused by falling ash. Local authorities distributed protective masks to residents and motorists in impacted regions.
The BNPB confirmed there is no immediate tsunami threat. Maritime authorities advised vessels to maintain a 3-kilometer (2-mile) clearance from the volcano’s crater while allowing Sunda Strait ferry services to operate normally under caution.
Anak Krakatau remains on Alert Level 3 (the second-highest level). Nearby Mount Semeru in East Java also erupted on Sunday, sending an ash cloud 1 kilometer above its summit and prompting exclusion zone warnings.
Anak Krakatau (“Child of Krakatoa”) emerged in the 1920s within the caldera left by the historic 1883 eruption of Krakatoa. Indonesia sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” an area characterized by frequent seismic and volcanic activity.
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