Agence France-Presse/Jakarta

The government raised the alert status for Anak Krakatau (Child of Krakatoa) – the offspring of the infamous volcano – to its second-highest level on Monday, a day after it erupted and spewed a towering ash cloud 3,000 meters into the sky.

Authorities bumped the threat of Anak Krakatau to level three of a four-tier volcanic alert system after witnessing a sharp rise in activity in the last month with the biggest eruption coming on Sunday.

They also widened the exclusion zone around the crater a day after warning nearby residents to wear masks outside because of the large plume of ash it belched over the strait that separates the islands of Java and Sumatra.

"We have increased the status of Mount Anak Krakatau from level two [...] to level three and recommended that nobody is allowed to get closer than a 5-kilometer radius from the active crater," Hendra Gunawan, head of the Center of Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation, told a virtual press conference. 

A significant spike in carbon dioxide emissions has also been reported at the crater, he said.

It emitted 68 tons on April 15 but more than a week later, on April 23, it emitted more than 9,000 tons.

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