Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Nearly 170,000 passengers were stranded for hours after Indonesia suspended more than 1,500 flights at eight airports on Sunday because of ashes blurring vision in the skies in the wake of a volcanic eruption, the media reported.
The government temporarily shut eight airports following volcanic activity from Anak Krakatau, BBC reported.
The volcano is located in the Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra.
The closures disrupted hundreds of flights, with authorities warning that operations would remain suspended until Monday as volcanic ash spread across parts of the region. Two fresh eruptions were recorded early on Sunday.
The volcano at Anak Krakatau began erupting late on Friday, with authorities reporting continued seismic activity and lava fountains and loud booming sounds in surrounding areas.
The national capital Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta International Airport was the first to suspend operations on Sunday morning after volcanic ash was detected in the airspace around the airport. Indonesia’s Transport Ministry said 1,558 flights had been delayed, while the affected airports were expected to remain closed until Monday.
Transport Minister Dudy Purwagandhi said additional airports were closed after tests showed that volcanic ash had moved towards West Java.
The disruption mainly affected flights to and from Singapore, along with other international routes connecting Indonesia with Doha, Sydney and Kuala Lumpur.
Indonesia’s meteorological agency BMKG said volcanic ash had risen to about 20,000 feet, or 6,000 metres, over Java to the east of the volcano. On the western side, towards Sumatra, ash reached around 50,000 feet, or 15,000 metres, the news report said.
Authorities said there is currently no tsunami warning linked to the latest volcanic activity.
Indonesia’s Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin advised people in affected areas to remain indoors and wear face masks to reduce exposure to volcanic ash, which can cause respiratory, eye and skin irritation.
Local newspaper Kompas reported that several schools cancelled activities on Saturday after students and residents complained of irritated eyes. Some fishermen also called off trips to sea after experiencing similar problems.
A resident told Kompas that he had experienced irritation since Friday evening. He described the sensation as feeling like “small grains of sand had gotten into my eyes” and said he had been using eye drops for relief. He also said the ash was so thick that he had to sweep the front yard of his home every five minutes.
Anak Krakatau
Anak Krakatau, meaning “Child of Krakatoa”, emerged from the sea in the early 20th century inside the caldera created by the massive 1883 eruption of Mount Krakatoa. The volcano has remained intermittently active since then.
In December 2018, part of Anak Krakatau collapsed into the sea, triggering a major tsunami that killed more than 400 people and injured and displaced thousands along the coasts of Java and Sumatra.
Scientists later found that some of the rocks that slid into the sea during the collapse were around 70-90 metres high.
Indonesia is part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, a roughly 40,000-km-long zone around the Pacific Ocean where several tectonic plates meet and volcanic and earthquake activity is common. The zone stretches from the southern tip of South America to New Zealand.
About 90 per cent of the world’s earthquakes occur along the Ring of Fire. It is also home to around 75 per cent of the world’s active volcanoes, with 452 active volcanoes located across the region.