Krakatau, a small island group in the Sunda Strait between the islands
of Sumatra and Java is one of the world's most famous volcanoes. It is a
mostly submerged caldera with 3 outer islands belonging to the rim and a
new cone, Anak Krakatau, that has been forming a new island since 1927
and remains highly active.
Krakatau exploded spectacularly in a
devastating Plinian eruption 1883 that killed more than 30,000 people
(mostly by the huge tsunamis triggered by the eruption). The eruption
was one of the first global news events after telegraph lines had
connected the different continents.
Background:
The renowned
volcano Krakatau (or Krakatoa) lies in the Sunda Strait between Java and
Sumatra. Collapse of the ancestral Krakatau edifice, perhaps in 416 AD,
formed a 7-km-wide caldera. Remnants of this ancestral volcano are
preserved in Verlaten and Lang Islands; subsequently Rakata, Danan and
Perbuwatan volcanoes were formed, coalescing to create the pre-1883
Krakatau Island. Caldera collapse during the catastrophic 1883 eruption
destroyed Danan and Perbuwatan volcanoes, and left only a remnant of
Rakata volcano. This eruption, the 2nd largest in Indonesia during
historical time, caused more than 36,000 fatalities, most as a result of
devastating tsunamis that swept the adjacent coastlines of Sumatra and
Java. Pyroclastic surges traveled 40 km across the Sunda Strait and
reached the Sumatra coast. After a quiescence of less than a half
century, the post-collapse cone of Anak Krakatau (Child of Krakatau) was
constructed within the 1883 caldera at a point between the former cones
of Danan and Perbuwatan. Anak Krakatau has been the site of frequent
eruptions since 1927.
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Source: GVP, Smithsonian Institution
Caldera 813 m (2,667 ft.) / Anak Krakatau: 189 m
Sunda Strait, Indonesia, -6.1°S / 105.42°E
Current status: restless (2 out of 5)
Last update: 3 Oct 2013 (degassing)
Typical
eruption style: Explosive. Construction of a cinder cone island (Anak
Krakatau) inside the caldera formed by the 1883 eruption. Frequent
strombolian activity.
Krakatau volcano eruptions: 1530, 1680-81,
1684, 1883 (Plinian eruption), 1927-30, 1931-32, 1932-34, 1935, 1936,
1937, 1938-40, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1946, 1946-47, 1949, 1950,
1952, 1953, 1955, 1958-59, 1959-63, 1965(?), 1969(?), 1972-73, 1975,
1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1988, 1992-93, 1994-95, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000,
2001, 2007-8, April 2009-early 2010, Oct 2010 - March 2011, July-Oct
2011,Jan-May 2013, Sept 2012