Indonesia’s volcanic eruption halts flights, schools, fishing

Ajeng Dinar Ulfiana/Reuters

An eruption of Indonesia’s Mount Anak Krakatau ​caused the suspension of hundreds of flights at Jakarta’s main airport on ‌Sunday after some school activities and fishing were halted.

Soekarno-Hatta International Airport posted on Instagram that it had suspended flight operations until 9:30 a.m. (0230 GMT) due to volcanic ash.

The suspension, extending a halt ​that had been scheduled until 5:30 a.m., has affected 209 flights, including ​several international flights, Indonesia’s transportation ministry said.

Anak Krakatau has erupted since late ⁠on Friday, with volcanic ash detected at the airport early on Sunday, the ​ministry said in a statement.

Ash was identified as high as 20,000 feet (6,000 metres) on the ​Java side of the volcano and a plume of up to 50,000 feet (15,000 metres) on the Sumatra side and some parts of Banten province in Java, the meteorological agency BMKG posted on ​its website.

Anak Krakatau is roughly halfway between Java and Sumatra in Indonesia’s vast island ​chain, which sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, where earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are frequent.

Indonesia’s disaster ‌mitigation ⁠agency, BNPB, “urges the public to remain calm while increasing vigilance. In the event of ashfall, people are advised to wear masks and eye protection, reduce outdoor activities, cover water sources and exercise caution when driving, as volcanic ash can reduce visibility,” said spokesperson ​Berton Panjaitan.

Several schools ​cancelled activities on Saturday ⁠with students and residents suffering eye irritation from the ash, while fishermen cancelled their fishing trips due to the eruption, local ​media outlet Kompas reported.

The disaster mitigation agency said on Saturday ​there was ⁠no imminent risk of tsunami from the volcano.

A tsunami in 2018 caused by Anak Krakatau eruptions killed hundreds and injured hundreds more on Java and Sumatra.

Anak Krakatau, which means child of ⁠Krakatau, ​emerged a century ago from the area once occupied ​by Krakatau, then known as Krakatoa. Krakatoa was destroyed in 1883, when its massive eruptions killed more ​than 36,000 people in a series of tsunamis.

阿杰恩·迪纳尔·乌尔菲亚纳/路透社

周日，印尼喀拉喀托之子火山爆发，导致雅加达主要机场数百个航班停飞，此前一些学校活动和捕鱼活动也被迫停止。

苏加诺-哈达国际机场在 Instagram 上发布消息称，由于火山灰的影响，航班运营已暂停至上午 9:30（格林尼治标准时间 02:30）。

印尼交通部表示，此次暂停航班的措施延长了原定于凌晨 5:30 结束的停飞时间，影响了 209 个航班，其中包括多个国际航班。

该部在一份声明中表示，喀拉喀托之子火山自周五晚些时候开始喷发，周日清晨在机场检测到了火山灰。

印尼气象局 (BMKG) 在其网站上发布消息称，在火山爪哇岛一侧发现了高达 20,000 英尺（6,000 米）的火山灰，在苏门答腊岛一侧和爪哇岛万丹省的部分地区发现了高达 50,000 英尺（15,000 米）的火山灰柱。

阿纳克喀拉喀托火山位于印度尼西亚广袤的岛链上，大致位于爪哇岛和苏门答腊岛之间。印度尼西亚地处太平洋“火环”上，地震和火山爆发频繁发生。

印尼国家减灾署（BNPB）发言人贝尔顿·潘贾伊坦表示：“我们敦促公众保持冷静，同时提高警惕。如果火山灰降落，建议人们佩戴口罩和护目镜，减少户外活动，遮盖水源，并在驾驶时格外小心，因为火山灰会降低能见度。”

据当地媒体《罗盘报》报道，由于火山灰刺激了学生和居民的眼睛，一些学校周六取消了活动；渔民也因火山喷发取消了捕鱼行程。

灾害管理机构周六表示，火山不会立即引发海啸。

2018 年喀拉喀托火山爆发引发的海啸造成爪哇岛和苏门答腊岛数百人死亡，数百人受伤。

阿纳克·克拉卡托（Anak Krakatau），意为“克拉卡托之子”，于一个世纪前从克拉卡托火山（当时被称为克拉卡托亚火山）曾经占据的区域形成。克拉卡托亚火山于1883年被摧毁，当时其大规模喷发引发的一系列海啸造成超过36000人死亡。