Krakatoa, Volcanic Eruption Felt Around the World!

On August 27th, 1883 Mother Nature unleashed one of the largest known eruptions in recorded human history. Mount Toba is thought to have been the largest eruption, some 74,000 years ago.

Many people remember this volcano by the name Krakatoa, but the name Krakatau is actually more correct.

The island of Krakatoa is located in the Sundra Straits, between Java and Sumatra off the south west coast of Indonesia.

A caldera volcano, Krakatoa rose 450 meters above sea level and covered roughly 23 square kilometers, and was comprised of several volcanic vents: Rakata, Perboewetan, and Danon.

Krakatoa had been noted by passing ships as having begun active eruptions on May 20, 1883. On August 26, 1883 Krakatoa decided to get serious at around one o'clock in the afternoon with a continuous series of eruptions that caused Tsunamis that hit nearby coastlines causing serious damage, but the worst had yet to arrive.

At 5:30 AM on the 27th of August a series of four massive eruptions began. The second hit at 6:44 AM and at 8:20 AM a third. At 10:02 AM history recorded the fifth largest recorded explosion in history.

Krakatoa is the loudest natural sound known. The sound of the explosion was heard 4500 km away and the sound covered 1/3 of the earth's surface.

The shockwave traveled around the world seven times over five days.

The explosion was estimated at being equal to 21,000 atomic bombs.

The volcanic plume rose to over 35 kilometers in the sky, and ash landed in Singapore 850 kilometers northwest of Krakatau, in Cosos 1,155 kilometers to the southwest, and on ships up to 6,076 kilometers North West of the eruption.

Pyroclastic lava flows traveling over 100 kph to areas 40 kilometers away, consuming ships, villages and people in their path, and caused an estimated 4500 fatalities.

The volcanic debris ejected into the atmosphere lowered the temperature of our planet by a few degrees and caused special solar visual effects for about three years afterward that covered nearly 70% of the planet.

The island of Sebesi only 13 kilometers away lost its entire population of 3,000 people to the eruption.

The Pyroclastic lava flows from Krakatoa are said to cover some 4,000 square kilometers.

As bad as all this sounds it pales in comparison to the real killer that was spawned by the eruption. The Tsunamis! A wall of water 30-35 meters high (90-100 feet) that completely submerged many small islands, denuding the landscape of life and destroying anything in its path. The Tsunamis of 2004 reached a height of 20 meters by comparison.

Of the 36,417 people that died from the eruption, over 90% died from the wall of water. Tidal waves reached Aden, 3800 miles away in twelve hours, a 12 day trip by steamship.

Six hundred ton coral blocks were hurled ashore, and a ship, the Berouw (a steam ship) was deposited over a mile inland with the loss of all twenty eight crewmen aboard.

165 villages and towns were completely destroyed and a further 132 were seriously damaged.

The island that was once Krakatoa was only 1/3 its original size and the volcano itself was 250 meters below the surface of the water after the eruption had run its course.

History it seems is destined to repeat itself. In 1927 Anak Krakatoa emerged from the ocean and boiled to life in the same location. It took Anak three more years to build fast enough to keep the waves from eroding it away and in August of 1930 Anak Krakatoa emerged once again from the waters to regain its old island stronghold.

Anak Krakatoa means son of Krakatoa.

Anak is now 300 meters tall and two square kilometers around and quite active to boot. A three kilometer safety zone is in effect around the island since a tourist was killed by activity from the volcano. Anak Krakatoa is growing steadily at a rate of sixteen feet a year. The last eruption dated August 2008, and there are quite a few Websites dedicated to both Anak and its elder Krakatoa, complete with photos.

References:
www.earlham.edu/~bubbmi/krakatoa.htm
www.wikipedia.org/wiki/krakatoa