Mount Anak Krakatau eruption closes eight Indonesian airports; 150,000+ stranded, September 6-7

An eruption of Mount Anak Krakatau forced Indonesia to temporarily suspend operations at eight airports on Sunday, leaving more than 150,000 passengers stranded and disrupting hundreds of flights across Southeast Asia's busiest aviation hub. The volcano started erupting late on Friday night, generating continuous seismic activity, lava fountains, and booming sounds across surrounding regions, per BBC News. Two more eruptions happened early on Sunday, per BBC News. Indonesia's Geological Agency said the volcanic island showed signs of activity since Friday before erupting for 30 seconds in the early hours of Sunday, per CBS News. According to Indonesia's meteorological agency BMKG, ash reached as far as 20,000 feet (6,000 meters) on Java east of the volcano, and 50,000 feet (15,000 meters) west of the volcano on the Sumatra side, per BBC News. Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta International Airport was the first to be closed on Sunday morning after ash from Anak Krakatau was detected in airspace near the airport, per BBC News. AirNav Indonesia closed airspace around Soekarno-Hatta and Halim Perdanakusuma airports in Jakarta, as well as four other airports, including Radin Inten II Airport in Lampung, because of volcanic ash, per CBS News. Transport minister Dudy Purwagandhi said so far 712 flights have been affected, per BBC News. By mid-afternoon local time in Jakarta, the closure had affected 516 flight movements, with 202 in Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta airport alone that affected about 22,800 passengers, per CBS News. The transport ministry said the pause in operations mainly affected flights to and from Singapore, as well as other international routes including Doha, Sydney, and Kuala Lumpur, per BBC News. The transport ministry decided to temporarily close more airports after tests found that volcanic ash had spread towards West Java, per BBC News. Volcanic ash spread across parts of Jakarta and Lampung province on Sumatra's southern tip, according to Indonesia's Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation, per CBS News. Lukman F. Laisa, Ministry of Transportation director general of civil aviation, said: "Safety remains our top priority in every operational decision," and warned flight schedules could face cascading disruptions affecting aircraft rotations, fleet availability and terminal capacity, per CBS News. Authorities have confirmed there is no tsunami warning linked to the recent activity of the volcano, which is in the Sunda Strait between the islands of Java and Sumatra, per BBC News. No casualties were reported and no evacuation orders were issued as the nearest settlement is more than 10 miles away, but authorities warned people to stay at least 2 miles clear of the crater, per CBS News. However, residents in ash-affected areas faced health risks. The health minister urged residents in affected areas to stay indoors and wear face masks to protect against respiratory, eye, and skin risks, per BBC News. Several schools cancelled activities on Saturday after students and residents reported eye irritations from the ash, per BBC News. Some fishermen cancelled fishing trips at sea, similarly reporting sore eyes from the ash, per BBC News. Resident Aldi Candra Prayogi said he felt the ash since Friday evening and it felt like "small grains of sand had gotten into my eyes," and that he needs to use eye drops to ease the irritation, per BBC News. One resident said the dust is so thick that he has to sweep the front yard of his house every five minutes, per BBC News. Transport minister Purwagandhi urged airlines to speed up processes for refunding tickets for passengers affected by flight cancellations and to provide timely information to those with upcoming flights to avoid overcrowding at airports, per BBC News. AnakKrakatau, which means "Child of Krakatoa," has been sporadically active since it emerged from the sea at the beginning of last century in the caldera formed after the 1883 eruption of Mount Krakatoa, per BBC News. Scientists found that some of the chunks of rock that slid from the volcano when it collapsed in 2018 were about 70-90 meters high, per BBC News. Scientists said Anak Krakatau island was only about a quarter of its original size after the 2018 eruption, per CBS News.