The Eruption Of Krakatoa | Today In History | History Today | World History Today|History Continued
Channel: History Continued
Date: 2021-08-28

Krakatoa, also transcribed Krakatau, is a caldera in the Sunda Strait between the islands of Java and Sumatra in the Indonesian province of Lampung. The caldera is part of a volcanic island group called Krakatoa Archipelago, comprising four islands: two of which, Lang and Verlaten, are remnants of a previous volcanic edifice destroyed in eruptions long before the famous 1883 eruption; another, Rakata, is the remnant of a much larger island destroyed in the 1883 eruption.

In 1927, a fourth island, Anak Krakatau, or "Child of Krakatoa", emerged from the caldera formed in 1883. There has been new eruptive activity since the late 20th century, with a large collapse causing a deadly tsunami in December 2018.

The 1883 eruption of Krakatoa in the Sunda Strait began on 20 May 1883 and peaked on the late morning of Monday, 27 August 1883, when over 70% of the island of Krakatoa and its surrounding archipelago were destroyed as it collapsed into a caldera.

The biggest explosion the world has ever known – an estimated 13,000 times greater than the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima – happened on this day as eruptions of the Krakatoa volcano reached their climax. The eruption was one of the deadliest and most destructive volcanic events in recorded history and explosions were so violent that they were heard 3,110 kilometres away in Perth, Western Australia, and Rodrigues near Mauritius, 4,800 kilometres away. five cubic miles or 21 cubic kilometres of rock and ash were projected 50 miles or 80.5km into the air; 120 foot or 36.5 metre tsunamis were created; and at least 36,417 deaths are attributed to the eruption and the tsunamis it created. The sound was claimed to have been heard in 50 different locations around the world and the sound wave is recorded to have travelled the globe seven times over.

The island of Krakatoa featured three linked volcanic peaks in an area about three miles wide and 5.5 miles long in the Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra.

The first signs of trouble brewing came on May 20, 1883 when the passing German ship Elizabeth reported a seven-mile high cloud of ash and dust above the island. Sightings of volcanic activity were confirmed by other ships over the next two months.

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