Indonesia’s Anak Krakatau volcano erupted early on Sunday, prompting the cancellation of all flights at Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta International Airport and disrupting other domestic airports as volcanic ash drifted across parts of western Indonesia. The closure affected about 22,800 passengers and 516 flight movements by mid-afternoon.
Airspace closed and flights cancelled
Indonesia’s Geological Agency said the volcanic island, located in the Sunda Strait between the main Java and Sumatra islands, had shown signs of activity since Friday before erupting for 30 seconds at 3.53am. CCTV footage showed lava flares from the volcano.
AirNav Indonesia closed airspace around Soekarno-Hatta and Halim Perdanakusuma airports in Jakarta, as well as four other airports, including Radin Inten II Airport in Lampung, because of volcanic ash. By mid-afternoon, the closure had affected 516 flight movements, with 202 at Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta airport alone. The airport was ordered closed until at least 5.30pm.
Monitoring and safety measures
Indonesia’s directorate general of civil aviation said it was closely monitoring the eruption’s impact on air travel and co-ordinating with airlines, airport operators, air navigation services and the meteorology agency. “Safety remains our top priority in every operational decision,” Lukman F Laisa, ministry of transportation director general of civil aviation, said in a statement.
He warned flight schedules could face cascading disruptions affecting aircraft rotations, fleet availability and terminal capacity as airlines work to restore operations. The eruption also disrupted services at Bali’s I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport and at Medan.
Ash clouds and hazards
Volcanic ash spread across parts of Jakarta and Lampung province on Sumatra’s southern tip, Indonesia’s centre for volcanology and geological hazard mitigation said. Indonesia’s volcanology agency and the Darwin Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre identified two ash clouds using satellite imagery. One plume rose to 20,000 feet (6,100 meters) and drifted northeast over Jakarta, Banten, West Java and nearby waters. A second cloud reached 50,000 feet (15,200 meters) and spread over parts of Banten, Lampung and Bengkulu provinces, the southern Sunda Strait and sections of the Indian Ocean west of Sumatra.
Lana Saria, head of Indonesia’s geological agency, said activity at Anak Krakatau has intensified since July, with Sunday’s eruption the strongest during the current period of unrest. The repeated eruptions indicate a continued supply of magma and volcanic gases beneath the volcano, she said, though officials cannot predict whether a larger eruption will occur.
“We continue to evaluate the volcano’s development based on all monitoring data, not solely on the number of eruptions or the height of the ash column,” Ms Saria said in a video briefing. She said the main hazards include volcanic ash, high concentrations of gas and the ejection of hot rocks and other material around the crater area.
No casualties were reported and no evacuation order was issued. The nearest settlement is more than 16 kilometres (10 miles) away, but authorities warned residents and visitors to stay at least three kilometres (2 miles) from the active crater.
History of Anak Krakatau
Anak Krakatau, which means “child of Krakatau”, is the offspring of the famous Krakatau, whose monumental 1883 eruption triggered a period of global cooling. The volcano caused a tsunami in 2018 that killed at least 430 people in Sumatra and Java. Researchers believe volcanic activity triggered an underwater landslide and caused a large chunk of Anak Krakatau’s southwest slope to collapse and displace a large volume of water. Scientists said the island was only about a quarter of its original size after that eruption.
