Krakatoa, a volcanic island in the Indian Ocean, erupted on August 26, 1883, releasing 2.9 cubic miles of magma and causing a tsunami that killed nearly 40,000 people. The island was destroyed, and prior to the eruption, showed signs of Plinian volcanic activity. The explosion was the loudest sound ever reported and was heard in Australia, Sri Lanka, and the Philippines.
The volcanic island of Krakatoa, also called Krakatao or Krakatowa, is best known for the massive volcanic eruptions that took place there on Sunday, August 26, 1883. In a sequence of massive explosions during the morning and early afternoon, the 2,625-foot ( 800 m) erupted and spewed a torrent of volcanic magma into the Sundra Strait in the Indian Ocean. About 2.9 cubic miles (12cu km) of magma were released and the initial explosion coupled with the tsunami caused by the magma falling into the sea meant the death toll reached nearly 40,000. The three islands that made up Krakatoa were mostly destroyed by the explosion.
The island of Krakatoa was located between the then Dutch colonies of Java and Sumatra in the Sundra Strait. Prior to its eruption and eventual self-destruction, Krakatoa was 492 yards (450 m) above sea level and measured 8.8 square miles (23 square km). Scientists believe that before the fateful Sunday afternoon in 1833, the island showed signs of what is known as Plinian volcanic activity. This Plinian activity (named after Pliny the Younger, chronicler of the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79) is thought to have resulted in the ejection of large quantities of matter into the atmosphere. This is evidenced by accounts of sailors who traveled the strait in the months leading up to the eruption and witnessed a large plume of smoke billow out of Krakatau’s crater along with pumice bars and ash scattered along the strait.
The activity that heralded the catastrophic explosion a few months later was from the Perboewetan volcano of the Krakatoa volcano complex. The potential for a massive eruption was increased by this earlier activity because it widened the caldera beneath the islands of Krakatoa which increased the pressure buildup. At around 5:30 and then around 7:00 on the day of the fatal eruption, the island suffered two huge explosions which caused the tsunami to devastate the Sundra Strait. Then, about three hours later, at 10:00 am, the island blew up and tore apart in a huge, cataclysmic explosion. What had previously been an 8.8 square mile (23 sq km) spewing volcano imploded in the 3.7 mile (6 km) caldera it sat upon.
The explosion was the loudest sound ever reported and was equivalent to approximately 200 megatons of trinitrotoluene (TNT). The audible blast from the explosion reached Australia and was also reported in Sri Lanka and the Philippines.
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