The Deadliest Volcano – Mount Krakatau (Krakatoa)

The Enormity of Mount Krakatau Eruption

Picture from: uniqueexplorer.blogspot.com

The explosion was very powerful and accompanied by hot clouds and tsunami that killed around 36,000 people. The voices of the eruptions were sounded up to Alice Springs, Australia and the island of Rodrigues near Africa (about 4,653 miles from the center of the eruption). Some sources mentioned that the explosive power is estimated at 30,000 times the atomic bomb that ever dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of the Second World War. While other source said that it was equivalent to 200 megatons of TNT.

That is Mount Krakatoa which erupted on 26-27 August 1883 in the past. Krakatau eruption caused global climate change at that time. The world was dark for two and a half days due to volcanic ash that covered the Earth's atmosphere. The expanses of dust in the sky were seen up to Norway and New York.

It was noted that the eruption of Mount Krakatau is the first world's major disaster that claimed many lives. Simon Winchester, a geologist who graduated from Oxford University of Britain and also the author of National Geographic, said that the blast was the biggest, with the loudest voice and was the most devastating volcanic event in modern human history. The voice of the eruption was sounded until 4,600 miles from the center of the eruption and can even be heard by one eighth of the population of the earth at that time.

According to researchers at the University of North Dakota, Krakatoa explosion _along with the explosion of Tambora (1815)_ recorded a largest score of Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) in modern history. The Guinness Book of Records recorded the explosion of Krakatoa as the most powerful explosion in history.

The explosion of Krakatoa had been throwing pumice stones and volcanic ash with a volume of 18 cubic miles. Its bursts of volcanic dust reach 80 km. Hard objects which flew into the air fell on the plains of Java and Sumatra, even to Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, Australia and New Zealand.

The eruption destroyed Mount Danan, Mount Perbuwatan and part of Mount Rakata where a half cone was missing, create a basin of 7 km width and 250 meters depth. Waves reached as high as 40 meters, destroying villages and whatever is on the coast.

The tsunami was caused not only because of the eruption but also underwater avalanches.
The recorded death reached 36,417 people from 295 coastal villages from Merak (Serang) up to Cimalaya in Karawang, from west coast of Banten up to Cape Layar on the island of Panaitan (Ujung Kulon and southern Sumatra. In Ujungkulon, flood entered 15 km to the west.

The next day until a few days later, residents of Jakarta and Lampung hinterlands were no longer see the sun. The tsunami waves generated was even creeping up to the Hawaiian coast, west coast of Central America and the Arabian Peninsula seven thousand kilometers away.

The birth of Anak Krakatau

In 1927 or approximately 40 years after the eruption of Mount Krakatau (used to call in Spanish as Krakatoa), a volcano emerged from the caldera of the ancient region. Its high-speed of growth was about 20 inches per month and every year it became about 20 feet higher and 40 feet wider.

Picture from: ntguide.info

Another note mentioned the additional of approximately 4 cm in height per year and if calculated, then within 25 years the additional height will achieve 7500 inches or 500 feet higher. The high-growth was due to the material that comes out from the belly of this new mountain. Currently, the height of Anak Krakatau reached around 230 meters above sea level. While the height of previous Mount Krakatau was 813 meters above sea level.

According to Simon Winchester, despite what had happened in the lives of Krakatoa was very scary, the strange realities of geology, seismic and tectonic in Java and Sumatra ensures that what had happened in the past at some point will happen again. No one knows exactly when the Son of Krakatoa will erupt. Some geologists predict that the eruption will occur in between 2015-2083. But the influence of the earthquake in the Indian Ocean base at December 26, 2004 also can not be ignored.

According to Professor Ueda Nakayama one an expert on Japanese volcano, Anak Krakatau is still relatively safe although there are active and frequent small eruptions, there are only certain times when the tourists are prohibited from approaching the area because of danger of lava that spewed out of this volcano. Other experts claim there is no plausible theory that the Son of Krakatau will erupt again. Even if there is, it will at least takes three or more centuries or after 2325 AD before it erupt again. But clearly, the number of casualties incurred will be more devastating than the previous eruption. Anak Krakatau is currently also known as "Mount Krakatau", though in fact it is a new mountain that grew after the previous eruption.