Child Of Krakatoa

Indonesia halted operations at its main international airport outside Jakarta on Sunday after ash spewed from the Anak Krakatoa volcano more than 150 kilometres away, impacting thousands of passengers. Mount Anak Krakatoa erupted on Saturday, producing a fountain of lava and booming sounds that could be heard up to 700 kilometres away.

Ash from the volcano was detected in the airspace surrounding Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, prompting authorities to suspend operations. The airport later confirmed the suspension had been extended "due to increased eruptive activity". More than 22,000 passengers have been impacted, with 209 flights affected, particularly those to and from Singapore, Doha, Sydney, and Kuala Lumpur.

Ships warned

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. The vessels are prohibited from approaching the exclusion zone of three kilometres radius from the volcano.

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. "The timing, magnitude, and nature of the next eruption cannot be precisely predicted," warned the geology agency head.