Krakatau eruption closes Indonesian airports, sends schools online and prompts mask warnings

Seven Indonesian airports were closed on Monday as ash from the Krakatau eruption spread across the country, including to two airports in the capital, Jakarta.

The eruption began late last week. Reuters reported that ash clouds rose as high as 15 kilometres, while the glow of lava lit the night sky. Indonesia's Transport Ministry said the eruption had affected around 2,300 flights, which were cancelled, delayed or diverted. More than 270,000 passengers were affected.

Authorities said further eruptions were highly likely. Windy and dry weather helped spread the ash across a wide area around the Sunda Strait, between Java and Sumatra. "Because of weather conditions, we cannot say with certainty when this will end," Transport Minister Dudy Purwagandhi said, according to Reuters.

Authorities urged people on Sunday to wear protective masks outside, and schools in many areas moved to remote learning. The BBC reported that the eruption had also affected shipping in the Sunda Strait. Passengers waited at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport as the disruption continued.

Krakatau's current eruption also brought renewed attention to earlier disasters. The 2018 eruption caused a tsunami that briefly reached 100 to 150 metres and killed more than 420 people along the coasts of Java and Sumatra. The 1883 eruption and its tsunami killed more than 36,000 people by colonial authorities' estimates, although some assessments put the toll much higher. The eruption destroyed two-thirds of Krakatau island, and the pressure wave circled the globe at least seven times. The 1927 eruptions later formed a new island, Anak Krakatau, or "Child of Krakatau."

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Because of weather conditions, we cannot say with certainty when this will end.