Krakatau, is a volcano that lies in the Sunda Strait of Indonesia, between the islands of Sumatra and Java. It is also called Krakatoa. Much of the volcano is underwater. But some of it projects above the water in the form of the islands Krakatau, Anak Krakatau, Lang, and Verlaten. The volcano rises 2,667 feet (813 meters) above sea level.
Krakatau is known for a destructive eruption in August 1883. The eruption killed about 36,000 people on nearby islands. It generated huge waves of up to 130 feet (40 meters) high. These waves, called tsunamis, washed ashore and caused most of the deaths. Other people were killed by scalding ash and other material shot out of the volcano. The eruption, heard nearly 3,000 miles (4,800 kilometers) away, had global effects. Volcanic dust in the atmosphere caused spectacular red sunsets over the next three years in the Northern Hemisphere. The volcanic dust may also have been the reason for a worldwide drop in temperature that lasted five years.
At the early afternoon August 26, 1883 Krakatau exploded with a series of roars heard from Rangon - Burma to Perth - Australia. A pillar os ash and pumice towered 26 km into the sky. Rock and dust rained over the surrounding region, forming a blanket clound which turned day into night for 150 km in every direction. Ash from the eruption gradually spread throughout the atmosphere, creating a spectacular sunset across the world for 2 years. The finale came the followoing morning, when a gap maw in the earth's crust - hollowed out by explosion of 18 cubic km of ash rock - collapsed on itself. The sea rushed in and began to boil immediately upon contact witht he molten rock. throwing up tsunamies (tidal waves) 10 meters high. The waves could be still detected a day and a half later when finally they rolled against the coast of French. The devastation near Krakatau was of incredible proportion.
The little coastal towns of Anyer and Merak were obliterated. No one knows the exact toll of the explosion in human lives, though a common figure cited is 35,000. Eyewitness described a wall of water "taller than a palm tree" swepping away all in its path. In Teluk Betung on Sumatera, the funnel effect of a narrow bay lifted the waves to a hight of 30 meters, carrying a Dutch gunboat more than 2 kms inland. When the waves had subsided gone and the dust dispersed, three-quaters of Karakatu was gone.
The peak of Rakata was still close to its original height, but its northern half has disappeared, sliced off as if by a knife, leaving a sheer cliff hurtling 300 meters to the sea below. Two islands, panjang and Sertung, has been toitaly re-shaped, while debris from the eruption merged to form islands farther away.
Krakatau and its vicinity remained in a state of geological flux for some time. The new island disappeared within few years, but volcanic activity continue below the surface, and in January 1928 the rim of a new crater arose close to where the vent of Krakatau first erupted. Since then Anak Krakatau - child of Karakatau, has continued to grow, and now stand 150 high. This "baby island" gives scientists a fascinating opportunties to observe the colonization of plant and animal species on the new soil
The 1883 eruption destroyed much of Krakatau Island. It also caused one of the volcano's summits to fall below the water's surface, forming a submerged caldera (crater). Eruptions from 1927 to 1930 created Anak Krakatau in the caldera's center.
Krakatau is known for a destructive eruption in August 1883. The eruption killed about 36,000 people on nearby islands. It generated huge waves of up to 130 feet (40 meters) high. These waves, called tsunamis, washed ashore and caused most of the deaths. Other people were killed by scalding ash and other material shot out of the volcano. The eruption, heard nearly 3,000 miles (4,800 kilometers) away, had global effects. Volcanic dust in the atmosphere caused spectacular red sunsets over the next three years in the Northern Hemisphere. The volcanic dust may also have been the reason for a worldwide drop in temperature that lasted five years.
At the early afternoon August 26, 1883 Krakatau exploded with a series of roars heard from Rangon - Burma to Perth - Australia. A pillar os ash and pumice towered 26 km into the sky. Rock and dust rained over the surrounding region, forming a blanket clound which turned day into night for 150 km in every direction. Ash from the eruption gradually spread throughout the atmosphere, creating a spectacular sunset across the world for 2 years. The finale came the followoing morning, when a gap maw in the earth's crust - hollowed out by explosion of 18 cubic km of ash rock - collapsed on itself. The sea rushed in and began to boil immediately upon contact witht he molten rock. throwing up tsunamies (tidal waves) 10 meters high. The waves could be still detected a day and a half later when finally they rolled against the coast of French. The devastation near Krakatau was of incredible proportion.
The little coastal towns of Anyer and Merak were obliterated. No one knows the exact toll of the explosion in human lives, though a common figure cited is 35,000. Eyewitness described a wall of water "taller than a palm tree" swepping away all in its path. In Teluk Betung on Sumatera, the funnel effect of a narrow bay lifted the waves to a hight of 30 meters, carrying a Dutch gunboat more than 2 kms inland. When the waves had subsided gone and the dust dispersed, three-quaters of Karakatu was gone.
The peak of Rakata was still close to its original height, but its northern half has disappeared, sliced off as if by a knife, leaving a sheer cliff hurtling 300 meters to the sea below. Two islands, panjang and Sertung, has been toitaly re-shaped, while debris from the eruption merged to form islands farther away.
Krakatau and its vicinity remained in a state of geological flux for some time. The new island disappeared within few years, but volcanic activity continue below the surface, and in January 1928 the rim of a new crater arose close to where the vent of Krakatau first erupted. Since then Anak Krakatau - child of Karakatau, has continued to grow, and now stand 150 high. This "baby island" gives scientists a fascinating opportunties to observe the colonization of plant and animal species on the new soil
The 1883 eruption destroyed much of Krakatau Island. It also caused one of the volcano's summits to fall below the water's surface, forming a submerged caldera (crater). Eruptions from 1927 to 1930 created Anak Krakatau in the caldera's center.
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