Erupsi Gunung Rinjani, Bandara Ngurah Rai dan Lombok Ditutup
Volcanic Eruption Closes Two Indonesian Airports
Editor : Ismail Gani
Translator : Novita Cahyadi
RIBUAN WISATAWAN nusantara dan mancanegara yang berada di Bali dan Lombok harus menunda perjalanannya melalui udara setelah kedua bandara di pulau tersebut ditutup akibat abu vulkanik.
Gunung Rinjani di Pulau Lombok melontarkan abu vulkanik setinggi 3.500 meter ke udara pada Rabu, kata Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, juru bicara Badan Nasional Penanggulangan Bencana.
Abu vulkanik tersebut mengakibatkan penutupan bandara internasional Ngurah Rai di Bali, sekitar 135 kilometer dari Lombok, dan Bandara Selaparang di Mataram, ibukota provinsi Nusa Tenggara Barat, di Pulau Lombok.
Maskapai penerbangan diingatkan untuk menghindari rute dekat gunung dan keputusan tentang pembukaan kembali dua bandara akan dilakukan pada Kamis pagi, kata juru bicara Kementerian Perhubungan, JA Barata.
Penutupan kedua bandara mengakibatkan ribuan wisatawan, termasuk yang terbang menggunakan pesawat dari maskapai Australia Jetstar dan Virgin Australia, seperti dikutip AP yang dilansir MailOnline.
Di bandara Ngurah Rai, banyak wisatawan mengeluh tentang kurangnya informasi terkait penundaan penerbangan tertunda dan banyak dair mereka tidur di bangku di dalam terminal.
Lahan pertanian dan pepohonan dalam radius 3,7 km dari Gunung Rinjani tertutup abu tebal, tetapi kota-kota dan desa-desa di sekitarnya tidak dalam kondisi bahaya, kata Sutopo.
Gunung Rinjani adalah satu dari sekitar 130 gunung berapi aktif di Indonesia. Negara di garis khatulistiwa tergolong rentan terhadap letusan gunung berapi dan gempa bumi karena berada di lokasi 'Cincin Berapi' Pasifik, rangkaian garis patahan yang membentang dari belahan bumi Barat melalui Jepang dan Asia Tenggara.
THOUSANDS of tourists are stranded on two Indonesian islands after ash from the Mount Rinjani volcano forced the closure of two airports and blanketed villages and farmlands.
Mount Rinjani on Lombok Island blasted ash and debris 3,500 meters (11,480 feet) into the air on Wednesday, said Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman.
The eruption shut down flights at the Ngurah Rai international airport in Bali, about 135 kilometers (84 miles) from Lombok, and the Selaparang airport in Mataram, the capital of West Nusatenggara province, located on Lombok Island.
Airlines were told to avoid routes near the mountain and a decision about reopening the two airports would be made early Thursday, said Transportation Ministry spokesman JA Barata.
The airport closures affected thousands of travelers, including those flying on Australian carriers Jetstar and Virgin Australia.
At Bali's airport, many travelers complained about a lack of information about their delayed flights and some were sleeping on benches inside terminals.
Farms and trees around the 3,726-meter (12,224-feet) -high volcano were covered in thick gray ash, but nearby towns and villages were not in danger, Nugroho said.
Rinjani is among about 130 active volcanoes in Indonesia. The archipelago is prone to volcanic eruptions and earthquakes because of its location on the Pacific "Ring of Fire," a series of fault lines stretching from the Western Hemisphere through Japan and Southeast Asia.
