Mount Kelud Volcanic Ash Reaches West Java

Jakarta, Feb 14 (Antara) - The volcanic ash spewed by Mount Kelud, which erupted on Thursday night, has scattered hundreds of kilometers away, reaching some regions in West Java. "A rain of ash fell after the Jumat prayer. White ash has covered the leaves and walls," stated Dwi Setyadi, a resident of Bandung, here Friday. The volcanic ash is blanketing parts of Bandung and some roads, but has not yet disrupted transportation. "I was surprised to see a lot of specks of smooth ash over my windshield," noted Ilham, a taxi driver. Setyanto, an official of Bandung`s Volcanology and Geology Disaster Mitigation Center (PVMBG) Crisis Center confirmed that the ash covering the Bandung region was in fact dispersed from Mount Kelud. The volcanic ash emitted by Mount Kelud has also reached Tasikmalaya, West Java, on Friday morning. Head of Information and Data Center of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) Sutopo Purwo Nugroho remarked that Mount Kelud in Kediri, East Java, has spewed millions of cubic meter of volcanic ash. An analysis conducted by the Meteorology Climatology and Geophysics Agency revealed that the plume of ash and volcanic material which was sent 1.5 thousand meters up into the sky, was swept away to the northeast, while that thrown up five thousand meters into the sky was swept towards the northwest region of the mountain. Meanwhile, volcanic material reaching nine thousand meters above the earth was swept towards the western side, Nugroho added. The volcanic ash also blanketed regions located kilometers away on the western side of the mountain such as Pacitan, Ponorogo, Wonogiri, Bantul, Yogyakarta, Purworejo, Kebumen, Solo, Boyolali, Magelang, and most of the Central Java region. The eastern region of Java was also affected by the ash such as Surabaya, Malang, Banyuwani, and even Ampenan of West Nusa Tenggara, Nugroho reported. The eruption of Mount Kelud has disrupted numerous flights across Indonesia. Yogyakarta`s Adisutjipto International Airport was closed due to the volcanic ash rain. Moreover, at least 43 domestic flights at Bali`s Ngurah Rai airport were disrupted due to the temporary closure of three airports on Java Island, which include Yogyakarta`s Adisutjipto airport, Surabaya`s Juanda airport, and Solo`s Adi Sumarmo airport. Despite the bleak sky over the region across Java, the weather in Kediri and Blitar was reportedly clear of volcanic ash at 8:00 a.m. local time, on Friday morning. "Bright sunshine and clear blue skies have been reported," Nugroho noted. Mount Kelud in East Java, erupted on Thursday night, producing molten lava and black smoke. The molten lava was clearly visible from the subdistrict of Talun in Blitar, East Java, around 15-20 kilometers from the mountain. Antara reporter from Blitar stated that the people were fleeing their homes and some were even striking electricity poles to alert others that the mountain had really erupted as per the reports, since 10.56 p.m. local time.