Indonesia keeps several airports closed though volcanic eruption is easing

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JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia extended the closure of several airports and shifted schools to remote learning in affected areas on Monday even though a volcanic eruption that has halted nearly 3,000 flights and coated areas with ash was subsiding.

The continuous, 25-hour eruption of Anak Krakatau that produced a fountain of lava and a boom heard 700 kilometers (435 miles) away ended Sunday, the country's Geological Agency said. But it remained active Monday with moderate, intermittent eruptions, dark ash emissions and small, localized earthquakes.

Transportation Minister Dudy Purwagandhi said Monday that authorities decided to extend the temporary closure of seven airports until midnight from an earlier deadline of 6 p.m., despite improving conditions at some facilities. Previously, Atung Bungsu Airport in Pagar Alam, a city in South Sumatra province, resumed normal operations Monday morning.

"We are taking a conservative approach because wind direction is highly dynamic,” Purwagandhi said in a statement. “We want to ensure that volcanic ash has moved away from airports around Anak Krakatau.”

Although tests at several airports showed no traces of volcanic ash, operations will not resume until further assessments are completed, Purwagandhi said.

He said the extended closure would also allow airport operators and airlines to inspect and clean runways, taxiways, aprons and aircraft that may have been exposed to volcanic ash.

The government also authorized schools in areas affected by volcanic ash to shift temporarily to online learning to reduce students’ exposure to ash.

Anak Krakatau is a volcanic island in the Sunda Strait between Indonesia's main islands of Java and Sumatra. Its name means “child of Krakatau,” and the volcano is the offspring of the infamous Krakatau, whose monumental 1883 eruption triggered a period of global cooling.

An eruption of Anak Krakatau in 2018 caused a tsunami that killed at least 430 people in Sumatra and Java.

Indonesia has more than 120 active volcanoes and frequently experiences eruptions due to its location along the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” the ring of seismic faults around the Pacific Ocean where most global seismic activity occurs.