Anak Krakatoa eruption forces closure of eight Indonesian airports, stranding 170,000 passengers

About 170,000 passengers were stranded as Indonesia closed its main international airport and seven others due to volcanic ash from Mount Anak Krakatoa.

Indonesia's geology agency reported several eruptions at Anak Krakatoa, with ash affecting air travel and nearby cities, raising health concerns amidst disruptions.

Authorities warned of potential navigational hazards for ships, maintained an exclusion zone around the volcano, and issued a public safety advisory without predicting further eruptions.

JAKARTA, Sept 7 — About 170,000 passengers were left stranded yesterday as Indonesia shuttered its main international airport and seven others, cancelling hundreds of flights after Mount Anak Krakatoa spewed a plume of volcanic ash and lava from more than 150 kilometres away.

Mount Anak Krakatoa erupted on Saturday, producing a fountain of lava and booming sounds that could be heard up to a few hundred kilometres away, the geology agency said in a statement.

Two new eruptions were recorded yesterday, the volcanology agency warned.

Ash from the volcano was detected in the airspace surrounding Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, prompting authorities to suspend operations, the ministry said.

The suspension was extended until 8.59am today “due to increased eruptive activity at Mount Anak Krakatoa”, the airport authority said in an Instagram post.

Operations were also suspended at seven other airports until 8.59am, authorities said on Instagram. These include the Husein Sastranegara airport in Bandung and Radin Inten II airport near Bandar Lampung on Sumatra, the ministry said.

“To date, 1,558 flights have been delayed at the eight affected airports, with 170,000 passengers stranded,” the ministry said in a statement yesterday.

More than 900 affected flights were to and from the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, it added.

Several airports in cities including Semarang and Surabaya have been prepared as alternatives for landing, Transportation Minister Dudy Purwagandhi said.

Passengers scrambling

The disruption left some passengers scrambling to find alternative flights.

Henny Yensan, 44, who had hoped to go back to her hometown with her mother, said “everybody was disappointed”.

“No one flew into a rage because, after all, this is due to natural disaster,” the businesswoman who had to reschedule her flight to tomorrow told AFP.

Samuel Guiberteau, a Danone executive on a business trip to Lombok since Friday, said “nothing is certain for the moment”, as he searched for alternative flights back to the capital.

“I had found another flight on Citilink, but it was also cancelled,” the 47-year-old told AFP by phone, adding that he had no alternative but to stay in Lombok for the time being.

Volcanic ash also reached the city of Bandar Lampung in the southern tip of Sumatra, blanketing parked cars and roadsides.

“I’m worried it could seriously affect the lungs and cause a lung infection,” Andre Bayu Saputra, 25, told AFP yesterday.

Schools across Jakarta will be closed today as classes move online, the city said in a statement, without specifying how long the measure will be in place.

Anak Krakatoa, which means Child of Krakatoa, sits in a strait that separates the islands of Java and Sumatra.

Ships passing through the strait were asked to increase vigilance for possible disruption to navigation safety due to volcanic activities.

Vessels are prohibited from approaching an exclusion zone of three kilometres radius from the volcano, local port authorities said in a statement.

The volcano has been sporadically active since it emerged from the sea at the beginning of last century in the caldera that formed after the 1883 eruption of Mount Krakatoa.

That disaster was one of the deadliest and most destructive in history with an estimated 35,000 people killed.

Geology agency head Lana Saria said “seismic activity indicates the movement or release of volcanic fluids within the volcanic system”.

“However, the timing, magnitude, and nature of the next eruption cannot be precisely predicted,” Lana added.

Lana warned against approaching Anak Krakatoa, saying materials ejected from the volcano could endanger those within the exclusion zone.

She said the most recent series of eruptions do not have the potential to trigger a tsunami at this time.

A 2018 tsunami triggered by a collapse of parts of Anak Krakatoa killed 429 people and left thousands displaced.

Indonesia, a Southeast Asian archipelago nation, sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, where the meeting of continental plates causes high volcanic and seismic activity. — AFP

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由于喀拉喀托火山喷发火山灰，印尼关闭了其主要国际机场以及其他七个机场，导致约 17 万名乘客滞留。

印尼地质机构报告称，喀拉喀托之子火山发生多次喷发，火山灰影响了航空旅行和附近城市，造成交通中断，引发了人们对健康的担忧。

当局警告船舶航行可能存在危险，在火山周围设立了禁区，并发布了公共安全公告，但并未预测火山会再次喷发。

雅加达，9月7日——由于喀拉喀托火山之子喷发150多公里外的火山灰和熔岩，印尼关闭了其主要国际机场和其他七个机场，取消了数百个航班，导致约17万名乘客滞留。

地质机构在一份声明中表示，喀拉喀托火山之子于周六爆发，喷涌出熔岩，发出轰鸣声，数百公里外都能听到。

火山学机构警告称，昨天记录到两次新的火山喷发。

该部表示，在苏加诺-哈达国际机场周围的空域检测到了火山灰，促使当局暂停了机场的运营。

机场当局在 Instagram 上发帖称，由于喀拉喀托火山之子火山喷发活动加剧，暂停航班的期限延长至今天上午 8 点 59 分。

据当局在I​​nstagram上发布的消息，另有七个机场的运营也暂停至上午8点59分。交通部表示，这些机场包括位于万隆的侯赛因·萨斯特拉内加拉机场和位于苏门答腊岛楠榜附近的拉丁·因滕二世机场。

该部昨天在一份声明中表示：“截至目前，受影响的八个机场已有 1558 个航班延误，17 万名乘客滞留。”

声明还补充说，受影响的航班超过900架次，这些航班往返于苏加诺-哈达国际机场。

交通部长杜迪·普尔瓦甘迪表示，包括三宝垄和泗水在内的几个城市的机场已准备好作为备用降落地点。

乘客们争先恐后

航班延误导致一些乘客不得不紧急寻找其他航班。

44岁的Henny Yensan原本希望和母亲一起回老家，她说“大家都感到失望”。

“没有人勃然大怒，毕竟这是自然灾害造成的，”这位不得不将航班改签到明天的女商人告诉法新社。

自周五以来一直在龙目岛出差的达能公司高管塞缪尔·吉贝尔托表示，“目前一切都还不确定”，他正在寻找返回首都的替代航班。

“我找到了另一趟 Citilink 的航班，但也被取消了，”这位 47 岁的男子通过电话告诉法新社，并补充说他目前别无选择，只能留在龙目岛。

火山灰也抵达了苏门答腊岛南端的楠榜市，覆盖了停放的汽车和路边。

“我担心这可能会严重影响肺部，导致肺部感染，”25 岁的安德烈·巴尤·萨普特拉昨天告诉法新社。

雅加达市政府在一份声明中表示，全市学校今日停课，课程将转为线上授课，但声明并未具体说明该措施将持续多久。

阿纳克·克拉卡托亚火山（Anak Krakatoa），意为“克拉卡托亚之子”，坐落在分隔爪哇岛和苏门答腊岛的海峡中。

过往船只被要求提高警惕，注意火山活动可能对航行安全造成的干扰。

当地港口当局在一份声明中表示，禁止船只靠近火山周围三公里半径的禁区。

自上世纪初从海中升起以来，这座火山一直处于间歇性活动状态。它位于喀拉喀托火山 1883 年喷发后形成的火山口内。

那场灾难是历史上伤亡最惨重、破坏性最大的灾难之一，估计造成 35,000 人死亡。

地质局局长拉娜·萨里亚表示，“地震活动表明火山系统内火山流体正在移动或释放”。

“然而，下一次火山喷发的具体时间、规模和性质都无法精确预测，”拉娜补充道。

拉娜警告不要靠近喀拉喀托火山之子，称火山喷出的物质可能会危及禁区内的人们。

她表示，最近这一系列火山喷发目前还没有引发海啸的可能。

2018 年，喀拉喀托火山部分崩塌引发海啸，造成 429 人死亡，数千人流离失所。

印度尼西亚是东南亚群岛国家，位于太平洋火环上，大陆板块在此交汇，导致火山和地震活动频繁。——法新社

喀拉喀托火山喷发扰乱出行后，雅加达和其他三个机场将关闭时间延长至下午 6 点

新德里一栋学生宿舍楼倒塌，造成三人死亡，另有多人恐被困；救援行动正在进行中。

伊朗将在未来几天内宣布霍尔木兹海峡附近为“禁区”，并警告称进入该区域的船只将面临制裁。

马来西亚全国农民团体整顿内部，关闭九家子公司，此前外界对马来西亚农业支持政策的审查日益严格。

四架直升机飞越下游30公里——仍未发现尼泊尔洪灾中失踪的马来西亚人。

马来西亚新婚夫妇巴厘岛之旅因喀拉喀托火山灰云而变成五天的机场噩梦。