Geography

Facts about Krakatoa

We found 14 facts about Krakatoa

Krakatau - the loudest volcano in history

Krakatoa is known as one of the deadliest volcanoes in modern history. The 1883 eruption is considered the second largest eruption in the world.

Indonesia, as the area with the largest number of active volcanoes on Earth, is a place where such events can occur at any time. Especially when Kratakau has "passed on" its power to a new, extremely active, one of the most dangerous volcanoes today, the "Child of Kratakau".

Its Indonesian name—Krakatau—is believed to be a typing error made by the British press reporting the 19th-century eruption.

Krakatoa
1
Krakatoa is not only a name of a volcano.

Krakatau is a volcanic island in Indonesia that is an active volcano. It is located in the Sunda Strait between Sumatra and Java.

Indonesia has the highest concentration of volcanoes in the world. It is home to 17% (more than 130) of the world's active volcanoes. 

Find out more ...
2
It is classified as a stratovolcano.
Stratovolcanoes are characterized by a conical summit and are made of several layers of hardened lava and tephra. They are also considered the deadliest of all types of volcanoes.
3
Indonesia's volcanoes are located in the subduction zone.

When the Earth's crust is pushed deep into the Earth, the rocks melt and some of them come out through cracks and fissures in the Earth as lava.

In addition, the subduction zone changes direction between Sumatra and Java. At the point where it bends, enormous stresses are created. As a result, powerful fissures are formed, through which magma escapes to the surface in a powerful stream, causing gigantic eruptions. Such fissures were found in the area of the Kratakau volcano.

4
Krakatoa is best known for its 1883 eruption that killed over 36,000 people.

Although Krakatoa has been an active volcano throughout its existence, the most memorable and deadliest of all eruptions took place in August 1883. Most of the death occurred as an aftermath of a massive tsunami triggered by the explosion. 165 towns and villages were destroyed, and another 132 were seriously damaged.

5
The centuries-old activity of Krakatoa is reported in historical records. This volcano was formed two million years ago and has always shown great activity. 

As early as the 3rd century AD, the Chinese described its violent eruptions. Its eruption around 416 caused the original volcano to collapse, resulting in the formation of a huge caldera (a large depression in the top of the volcano) 7 kilometers long. 

Other sources say that this event may have occurred in 535 and may have been the cause of the global cooling observed at that time in 535-536.

6
The sound generated by the 1883 explosion is the loudest ever recorded.
It could be heard within over 4,000 kilometers range from the volcano itself. There are records of sailors on a ship sailing as far as 46 kilometers away from the volcano, whose eardrums were torn as a result of the noise.
7
The final blast of the 1883 eruption generated a force 10,000 times stronger than the one generated by the atomic bomb dropped by the Americans on Hiroshima in 1945.
8
Within the next five years following the eruption, the global temperature dropped 1.2 degrees Celsius.
9
Krakatoa went dormant on August 28th, 1883.
However, since it lies in the volcanic arc of Indonesia, smaller eruptions occurred from time to time, none of which posed a threat to humans.
10
The caldera formed after the eruption is now housing a new volcano, called the Anak Krakatau.
It translates to "Child of Krakatoa".
11
The Anak Krakatau summit emerged on December 27th, 1927.
It has grown for the next 90 years, until it erupted on December 22nd, 2018.
12
The 2018 eruption caused a massive tsunami that hit the shores of Indonesia, claiming the lives of 437 people and endangering over 14,000.
13
Another eruption of the Anak Krakatau took place on April 10th, 2020.
The sound it generated was heard within 150 kilometers.
14
The color of the sky in the famous painting by Edvard Munch, Scream, is theorized to be inspired by the 1883 eruption.
The amount of ash dispersed by the volcano during the eruption caused the sky to turn dark red during sunsets in the following years. Once the researchers found the spot where the figure on the painting was placed, they determined that Munch had to be facing southwest and looking in the direction where the twilights of Krakatoa appeared after the eruption.
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