A sudden eruption of Indonesia’s Anak Krakatau volcano early Sunday morning triggered a temporary halt to all flight operations at Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta International Airport. The volcanic island, situated in the Sunda Strait between the major islands of Java and Sumatra, began exhibiting signs of heightened activity on Saturday. By 3:53 a.m. Sunday, the crater erupted for a duration of 30 seconds.
In response to the eruption, the airport authority issued a travel advisory announcing a temporary suspension of flight operations between 5:30 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. local time. The disruption caused significant scenes at the country’s busiest airport, as passengers were forced to reclaim their checked baggage and seek refunds while departure boards filled with cancellations.
The volcanic ash was carried by winds across sections of the capital city, Jakarta, as well as the Lampung province on the southern tip of Sumatra. Satellite imagery analyzed by both Indonesia's volcanology agency and the Darwin Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre in Australia identified two distinct ash plumes. The first plume reached an altitude of 20,000 feet (6,100 meters) and drifted northeast, impacting Jakarta, Banten, West Java, and the surrounding waters. A second, larger cloud reached 50,000 feet (15,200 meters), moving westward and northwestward toward the southern Sunda Strait, parts of Lampung and Bengkulu provinces, and areas of the Indian Ocean west of Sumatra.
While there were no reported casualties and no official evacuation orders were issued, authorities maintained caution. The nearest human settlement is located more than 16 kilometers (10 miles) away, yet the geological agency has advised both local residents and visitors to remain at least 3 kilometers (1.9 miles) from the active crater. The Anak Krakatau volcano is historically significant for its 2018 explosive collapse, which triggered a tsunami that claimed the lives of at least 430 people in the region.
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