A sudden eruption of the Anak Krakatau volcano sent ash billowing over western Indonesia this weekend, forcing authorities to shut down six airports and disrupt travel for tens of thousands of passengers. The volcano, located in the Sunda Strait between the islands of Java and Sumatra, showed its most intense activity between Friday night and early Sunday morning, spewing volcanic ash into the sky above several provinces.
Among the airports affected was Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, one of Southeast Asia’s busiest air travel hubs, where more than 200 flights were canceled, delayed, diverted, or turned back mid-route. International routes to cities including Singapore, Hong Kong, Sydney, Seoul, Doha, Amsterdam, and Kuala Lumpur were disrupted, along with domestic connections to Bali (Denpasar), Lampung, and Surabaya. In total, officials say more than 370 flights and 22,000 passengers were affected. Indonesia’s Transportation Ministry said flights would resume only once ash levels in the airspace are deemed safe.
Geological officials confirmed the eruption produced lava fountains and rumbling heard from far away, but ruled out any tsunami risk, noting that the volcano’s current shape differs from the one recorded before its catastrophic partial collapse in December 2018, which triggered a deadly tsunami. Anak Krakatau, meaning ‘Child of Krakatoa,’ emerged in the 20th century from the caldera left by the legendary 1883 Krakatoa eruption, and sits along the seismically active Pacific Ring of Fire.
You can read the original report, with video footage, at eltiempo.com.
Source: Impactantes videos de la erupción del volcán Anak Krakatoa en Indonesia: paralizó seis aeropuertos (eltiempo.com). English version produced with AI assistance.
Image: NASA Goddard Photo and Video, BY 2.0 (via Openverse).