AMN/ WEB DESK
Residents on the Indonesian island of Java have been fleeing a vast plume of ash as an active volcano erupted for the second time in the last few months.
Witnesses said a thick rain of volcanic ash from Mt Semeru was blotting out the Sun in two local districts. No casualties have yet been reported and evacuations are underway, officials said.
Meanwhile, a monitoring body issued a warning to airlines of an ash cloud rising up to 50,000 ft.
The eruption took place at about 14:30 local time. Local authorities have set up a restricted zone of 5km from the crater after the eruption.
Thoriqul Haq, a local official, told media agencies, that a road and bridge from the area to the nearby city of Malang had been severed.
The Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC) in Darwin, Australia said the ash appeared to have detached from the summit and was drifting southwest over the Indian Ocean. The VAAC provides advice to the aviation industry about the location and movement of potentially hazardous volcanic ash.
Campbell Biggs, a meteorologist at the VAAC, told the media that the 50,000 ft plume was higher than the cruising altitude for most aircraft and would cause most flights in the vicinity to divert their flight paths to avoid it.
Ash that solidifies on cooler parts of plane engines can disrupt airflow, which can lead to engines stalling or failing completely. It also affects visibility for the pilots and can affect air quality in the cabin – making oxygen masks a necessity.
Mt Semeru was quite an active volcano that regularly spewed ash up to about1500 ft, so Saturday’s eruption was a pretty significant increase in intensity, Mr. Biggs said.