Indonesia - Update: Mt Kelud Causes Massive Shower of Ash across Java Island

The eruption of Mount Kelud near Kediri city in East Java province last night, February 13, has caused massive showers of volcanic ashes across Java Island, the most populated island in Indonesia. Scores of cities in East Java, Central Java, Yogyakarta, and even in West Java have been blanketed by Mount Kelud ashes.

Residents of Tasikmalaya city in West Java, some 500 kilometers to the west of Mount Kelud, also reported a shower of ashes at their areas. Most of the ashes were indeed heading west. Earlier, Klaten and Yogyakarta, some 250 kilometers west of Mount Kelud, were also suffering from the shower of ashes, limited the visibility to just a few meters for some time.

The shower of ashes has limited visibility to just tens of meter and has forced many people to stay at home. Many schools canceled their activities and asked their students to stay at home. The disaster also affected business activities.

The eruption has seriously disrupted flights services from and to Surabaya, Malang, Solo, and Yogyakarta. Over 500 flights have been cancelled during Friday morning. Thousands of people were stranded at the airports, including in Jakarta, as their flights were cancelled.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said in Jalarta during a coordination meeting on Friday morning that the government would provide emergency support to the evacuees. He said that so far there has been no report of any casualty and there were indication that there has been no casualty due mainly to the earlier anticipation and advocacy to the villagers living close to the mountain.

The National Agency for Disaster Mitigation said that the eruption of Mount Kelud impacted some more than 200,000 people living in tens of villages at its slopes. Not all of the people, however, were abandoning their homes. Some families only evacuated their older family members and their children last night. Scores of them decided to get back as close to their homes as possible to guard their properties.

World Vision Indonesia's relief team has been heading to Kediri earlier today to do field assessment to see the pressing needs and to give inputs on how the organization should respond to help the victims. (Reported by Hendro Suwito, Senior Editor World Vision Indonesia)

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