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Krakatau: A Natural Wonder of the World with an Explosive Past

By Islomaniac | July 26, 2007

On August 27 1883, the Indonesian island of Rakata almost vanished when the nearby island volcano of Krakatoa erupted. In fact, about 75% of the land area of Rakata no longer exists. It was the most violent volcanic eruption recorded in human history. To read more about this story click below

Krakatau Eruption

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Krakatau which was on the island of Rakata, is known to since early history have violent volcanic activity. A great eruption of Krakatau in 416 formed the three islands of Rakata, Panjang, and Sertung, and caused a 7 km long caldera (cavity) to form underneath Rakata.

When Krakatau erupted 1883, the island of Rakata virtually collapsed into its cavity, falling 300m below sea level. The eruption ejected more than 25 cubic kilometres of rock, ash, and pumice, and generated the loudest sound historically reported. The cataclysmic explosion was distinctly heard as far away as Perth in Australia (approx. 1930 miles or 3100 km), and the island of Rodrigues near Mauritius (approx. 3000 miles or 4800 km). Concussive air waves from the explosions traveled seven times around the world, and were detectable for five days. The sky was darkened for days afterwards. Sea waves caused by the eruption were recorded as far away as the English Channel.


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The destruction was the worse in the area surrounding the island. Near Krakatoa, 165 villages and towns were destroyed and 132 seriously damaged, at least 36,417 (official toll) people died, and many thousands were injured by the eruption, mostly from the tsunamis which followed the explosion.


The dramatic skyline in Edvard Munch’s The Scream (1893) is allegedly based on the global optical effects caused by the eruption and seen over Oslofjord, Norway

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Eruptions of the volcano since 1927 have built a new island in the same location, called Anak Krakatau (child of Krakatoa) imaged below. Volcanic activity continues to this day and is definitely an area where we will not be building a resort any time soon!

Anuk Krakatau 2005 after fresh volcanic activity.

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Topics: Environmental |

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