Krakatoa

Krakatoa
Krakatau (native name)

Elevation

813 m (2,667 ft)

Location

Sunda Strait, Indonesia

Type/Active

Stratovolcano/Inactive

Last eruption

2008

History:

Krakatoa is a volcanic island located in Sumatra which is in Indonesia. It is an active volcano and it erupts repeatedly. It has caused massive destruction over history. The earliest mention of the island in the Western world was on a map by Lucas Janszoon Waghenaer. Before some of it's major eruptions, Krakatoa consisted of 3 main islands: Lang, Verlatan, and Krakatoa itself. Many things ave happened at Krakatoa other than violent eruptions. In around 1780 on the way back from James Cook's death, his crew stopped by the islands for a few drinks. They found the natives who lived there at the time friendly. In 1809, the Dutch built a colony, but it only lasted for around a decade. I can talk about these events as much as I want, but when people think Krakatoa, one thing pops up in peoples mind: Eruptions.

Eruptions:

Krakatoa has erupted several times over the course of recorded history. It is so famous that even fictional books have been written about it. There have been rumours and stories of eruptions in the time between 400-500 A.D., and not much geological evidence. But then, in 1883, it happened...

August 26

At around 1:00pm in the afternoon on August 26, Krakatoa delivered the first in a series of violent blasts that would continue on till the day after. This opening blast generated and defining shockwave that alerted the nearby coastal villages on the islands of Java and Sumatra. A column of black volcanic gas rapidly ascended to a height of over 25km above Krakatoa. In the coming hours as blasts intensified it would reach at least 35km. Later in the day the coastlines were hit with a series of tsunamis generated by the ocean impact of pyroclastic flows coming off the flanks of the island. Nothing of this would compare to what the world would witness the following day.

August 27

At around 5:30am, Krakatoa delivered the first of four series of cataclysmic blasts. The blasts continued on during the morning, causing violent tsunamis that hit surrounding areas. Finally, at 10:02am, a colossal blast tore the island apart. a number of places on the Sumatran coast were affected by pyroclastic flows from the volcano. The explosions were so violent that they were heard 3,500 km away in Perth, Western Australia and the island of Rodrigues near Mauritius, 4,800 km away; the sound of Krakatoa's destruction is the loudest sound in recorded history, reaching levels of 180 dBSPL 100 miles (160 km) away. The ashes reached up to 80km high, and the volcano did not quiet down until the morning of the following day. In the aftermath of the eruption, it was found that the island of Krakatoa had almost entirely disappeared, except for the southern half of Rakata cone cut off along a vertical cliff, leaving behind a 250-meter-deep caldera.

Now, Krakatoa is merely a shell of it's former self. It pretty much blew itself off the face of the earth. Krakatoa was undisputedly the largest Volcanic eruption. Ever.

Sources:

Pène du Bois, William. 21 Balloons. San Fransisco: The Viking Press, 1947.

"Krakatoa." Wikipedia. 2008. 08 May 2008 .