Jakarta: Indonesia’s Anak Krakatau volcano erupted early Sunday, forcing the temporary suspension of flight operations at Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta International Airport as volcanic ash spread across parts of western Indonesia.
Indonesia’s Geological Agency said the volcanic island, located in the Sunda Strait between the main islands of Java and Sumatra, had shown increased activity since Friday before erupting for around 30 seconds at 3:53 a.m. Sunday. Images from the agency’s closed-circuit monitoring cameras showed lava flares emerging from the volcano.
No casualties were reported and authorities did not issue an evacuation order. The nearest settlement is more than 16 kilometres (10 miles) from the volcano. However, residents and visitors have been advised to remain at least three kilometres (1.9 miles) from the active crater.
Volcanic ash spread over parts of Jakarta and Lampung province at the southern tip of Sumatra, according to Indonesia’s Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation.
“Due to increased activity from the Mount Anak Krakatau eruption, Soekarno-Hatta International Airport has temporarily suspended flight operations from 5:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.,” the airport said in a travel advisory issued early Sunday.
At the country’s busiest airport, passengers sought refunds and collected their checked baggage as departure boards showed an increasing number of canceled flights.
Indonesia’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation said it was closely monitoring the eruption’s impact on air travel and coordinating with airlines, airport operators, air navigation service providers and the country’s meteorological agency.
The authority said 170 aircraft that had remained overnight at Soekarno-Hatta were still parked on the airport aprons.
The temporary closure affected 209 flight movements and around 22,800 passengers on Sunday. The disruptions included the busy domestic route to Makassar in South Sulawesi, while Singapore recorded the highest number of disruptions among international destinations.
Other international services affected by cancellations, delays or schedule changes included flights to Hong Kong, Sydney, Amsterdam, Seoul, Doha and Kuala Lumpur. Domestic services to Lampung, Bali and Surabaya were also canceled or diverted.
“Safety remains our top priority in every operational decision,” said Lukman F. Laisa, Director General of Civil Aviation at the Ministry of Transportation.
He warned that the disruption could trigger a chain reaction across airline operations, affecting aircraft rotations, fleet availability and terminal capacity as carriers work to restore normal services.
Authorities advised passengers to check directly with their airlines for the latest flight information and urged travelers to avoid going to the airport unless necessary.
Indonesia’s volcanology agency and Australia’s Darwin Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre identified two separate ash clouds through satellite imagery.
The first plume rose to approximately 20,000 feet (6,100 meters) and drifted northeast, affecting parts of Jakarta, Banten and West Java, as well as surrounding waters.
A second ash cloud reached around 50,000 feet (15,200 meters) and moved westward and northwestward, covering parts of Banten, Lampung and Bengkulu provinces, the southern Sunda Strait and areas of the Indian Ocean west of Sumatra.
Anak Krakatau, meaning “child of Krakatau,” emerged from the remnants of the famous Krakatau volcano, whose massive 1883 eruption triggered a period of global cooling.
The volcano was also responsible for a deadly 2018 tsunami that killed at least 430 people on the islands of Sumatra and Java. Researchers believe the tsunami was caused by volcanic activity that triggered an underwater landslide, resulting in the collapse of a large section of Anak Krakatau’s southwestern slope and the displacement of a massive volume of water.
Anak Krakatau has remained at Indonesia’s second-highest alert level on a four-tier scale since then. Scientists say the volcanic island is now only about one-quarter of its original size.
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