Gunung Kelud Meletus, Lebih 200 Ribu Warga Mengungsi dan 5 Bandara Ditutup
Indonesia Volcano Erupts; 2 Killed, 200K Evacuated
Editor : Cahyani Harzi
Translator : Dhelia Gani
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HUJAN abu akibat dampak letusan Gunung Kelud telah menerpa hingga sejumlah wilayah di Jawa Tengah dan Yogyakarta, yang berjarak lebih dari 200km dari gunung Kelud. Melontarkan segumpal besar abu vulkanik dan pasir setinggi 17 km ke udara dan memaksa lebih dari 200 ribu orang mengungsi dan ditutupnya lima bandar udara.
Badan Nasional Penanggulangan Bencana (BNPB) memerintahkan evakuasi seluruh warga yang bermukim tinggal dalam radius enam kilometer dari Gunung Kelud.
Gunung berapi ini berjarak hampir 100 km di sebelah selatan Surabaya, Jawa Timur, kota kedua terbesar di Indonesia.
Juru bicara Badan Nasional Penanggulangan Bencana Sutopo Nugroho mengatakan letusan telah berhenti, tetapi abu vulkanik menyebar sejauh 549 km ke barat dan barat laut, menyebabkan lebih banyak masalah, terutama untuk penerbangan.
Gunung Kelud merupakan salah satu dari 130 gunung berapi aktif di Indonesia, negara terpadat keempat di dunia, seperti dilansir Mail Online.
BNPB ini memperkirakan hingga 200 ribu warga yang terkena dampak letusan harus mengungsi, dan pengungsi terus mengalir menuju zona evakuasi.
Awan dari letusan memaksa ditutupnya bandara di Surabaya dan kota-kota Yogyakarta, Solo, Malang dan Semarang di Jawa Timur dan Jawa Tengah, mengakibatkan ribuan penumpang terlantar di bandara.
Jaringan televisi lokal menayangkan gambar kota dan pesawat di bandara yang diselimuti abu vulkanik.
Bandara lainnya, termasuk Denpasar di pulau wisata Bali, tidak terpengaruh, sejauh ini, menurut Garuda Indonesia, maskapai nasional Indonesia.
Jarak pandang terbatas di beberapa daerah yang terkena dampak vulkanik hanya 10 meterdan sekolah ditutup, sementara para relawan membagikan masker dan makanan untuk pengungsi yang terus berdatangan ke tempat penampungan.
Abu vulkanik juga menyelimuti candi terbesar di dunia, Borobudur di Yogyakarta yang berjarak hampir 135 km jauhnya dari Gunung Kelud, memaksa pengelola Borobudur menutupi stupa dan patung Buddha dengan lembaran plastik.
"Daerah di sebelah barat Gunung Kelud, termasuk Jawa Tengah, Yogyakarta, Cilacap, Magelang, Temanggung dan Boyolali masih mengalami hujan abu, karena tadi malam letusan terbesar ... melemparkan pasir dan abu 17km ke udara," kata Nugroho.
Erupsi Kelud tidak terpengaruh pada kilang minyak utama di Cilacap dijalankan oleh perusahaan energi milik negara, Pertamina, kata para pejabat.
Kilang, dengan kapasitas 348.000 barel per hari, sekitar sepertiga dari total produksi minyak Indonesia dari produk olahan.
´Syukurlah, kilang minyak di Cilacap beroperasi normal, meskipun abu memang mencapai daerah Cilacap," kata juru bicara Pertamina Ali Mundakir. "Sebagai tindakan pencegahan, kami segera menyiapkan filter udara untuk peralatan di Cilacap.´´
Jawa Timur merupakan wilayah utama di Indonesia untuk perkebunan tebu, namun para pejabat setempat mengharapkan tidak menimbulkan banyak kerusakan pada tanaman.
"Letusan akan mempengaruhi perkebunan tebu, tetapi dampaknya relatif kecil,´ kata Soemitro Samadikoen, Ketua Asosiasi Petani Tebu Indonesia kepada Reuters. "Dengan ini dampak yang sangat kecil dan pemasok utama (di pasar domestik) sehingga tidak perlu mengimpor gula putih dari negara lain. "
Nugroho mengatakan bahwa pihaknya memastikan dua orang tewas akibat runtuhnya atap rumah karena beban berat dari tumpukan abu vulkanik.
Letusan dipastikan memicu kerusakan minimal pada bangunan, kata Nugroho, mengakibatkan tumpukan abu vulkanik dan pasir setinggi 3cm hingga 5cm.
Sebelumnya diberitakan, sekitar 11 orang tewas awal bulan ini di bagian utara Pulau Sumatera saat Gunung Sinabung meletus.
Gunung berapi ini memuntahkan lava dan abu selama berbulan-bulan, memaksa ribuan warga mengungsi dan abu vulkanik merusak tanaman milik warga.
Presiden Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono menulis dalam pesan di Twitter bahwa ia berencana untuk mengunjungi para pengungsi di dekat Kelud.
A VOLCANO erupted on the heavily populated Indonesian island of Java today, sending a huge plume of ash and sand 10 miles into the air and forcing the evacuation of more than 200,000 people and the closure of five airports.
Indonesia´s national disaster agency ordered the evacuation of all families living within a six-mile radius of Mount Kelud.
The volcano is 54 miles south of Indonesia´s second biggest city Surabaya, a major industrial centre.
National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Sutopo Nugroho said the eruptions had ceased, but the ash had spread as far as 312 miles to the west and northwest, causing more problems, especially for airlines.
Mount Kelud is one of 130 active volcanoes in the world´s fourth most populous country.
The agency estimated that up to 200,000 people living in its vicinity had been affected by the eruption, and some families were still being brought out of the evacuation zone.
The cloud from the eruption forced the shutdown of airports at Surabaya and the cities of Yogyakarta, Solo, Malang and Semarang in East Java and Central Java provinces, stranding thousands of passengers.
Local television networks showed images of cities and grounded airplanes blanketed in a layer of ash.
Other airports, including Denpasar on the resort island of Bali, were unaffected, so far, according to Garuda Indonesia , the national flag carrier.
Visibility in some affected areas dropped below 10 metres and schools were closed, while volunteers distributed masks and food to evacuees pouring into shelters.
As ash fell on the world´s largest Buddhist temple Borobudur in Yogyakarta nearly 135 km away, authorities began covering stupas and statues of Buddha with plastic sheets, according to local media reports.
´Areas to the west of Mount Kelud, including central Java, Yogyakarta, Cilacap, Magelang, Temanggung and Boyolali are still experiencing showers of ash, because last night the biggest eruption... threw sand and ash 17km into the air,´ Nugroho said.
Operations were unaffected at a major oil refinery in Cilacap run by state-owned energy company Pertamina, officials said.
The refinery, with a capacity of 348,000 barrels per day, accounting for a little more than a third of Indonesia´s total output of refined products.
´Thankfully, Cilacap operations are normal, although ash has indeed reached the Cilacap area,´ said Pertamina spokesman Ali Mundakir. ´As a preventative measure, we have immediately prepared air filters for equipment there.´
East Java is the main area in Indonesia for sugarcane plantations, but officials expected limited damage to crops.
´The eruption will affect sugarcane plantations, but the impact is relatively small,´ Soemitro Samadikoen, chairman of Indonesian Sugarcane Farmers Association told Reuters. ´With this very small impact and high stock (in the domestic market) we do not need to import white sugar from other countries.´
Nugroho said the disaster mitigation agency had confirmed two people were killed by the collapse of roofs due to the weight of the fallen ash.
The eruption otherwise caused minimal damage to buildings, Nugroho said, but had left 3cm to 5cm (1 1/2 to 2 inches) of ash and sand on roads.
Mt Kelud is just one of nearly 130 active volcanoes in the world´s fourth most populous country.
At least 11 people were killed earlier this month in the north of the island of Sumatra when Mount Sinabung erupted.
The volcano has been spewing lava and ash for months, forcing thousands to flee the area and destroying crops.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono wrote in a message on Twitter that he planned to visit the area near Kelud.
