Eight airports remain shut on Monday due to volcanic ash from Anak Krakatau

Eight airports in Jakarta and neighboring regions remain closed on Monday due to volcanic ash from the eruption of Anak Krakatau, according to Indonesia's Transportation Minister Dudy Purwagandhi. The ash from the volcano, located halfway between the Java and Sumatra islands, has blanketed Jakarta and surrounding areas since its late Friday eruption.

This led to closures for safety reasons, with 170,000 people affected by flight cancellations. The Transportation Ministry stated that the eight airports, including those serving nearby provinces of Lampung and West Java, would stay closed until at least 08:59 a.m. local time. Several alternative airports in cities such as Semarang and Surabaya have been prepared for safe landings.

The volcano monitoring agency reported that Anak Krakatau erupted on Sunday at 8:23 p.m., with ash reaching up to 20,000 feet (6,000 meters) on the Java side and 50,000 feet (15,000 meters) on the Sumatra side. The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) advised wearing masks outdoors due to the ash. Schools in Jakarta and Lampung have resorted to remote learning to protect students from potential health risks, as reported by state news agency Antara.

Anak Krakatau, which emerged from the former Krakatau volcano a century ago, experienced mass eruptions in 1883 that claimed over 36,000 lives in a series of tsunamis.