Krakatoa

Does August 27th. 1883 mean anything to you?

Probably not, it was a long time ago, but on that day, a disaster of such monstrous proportions hit the island of Pulau Rakata Selat Sunda between Java and Sumatra that it was felt around the world.

Pulau Rakata is not a name to trigger memories. Most people have never heard of it, but the name Krakatoa would be more familiar, if only for the movie of that name.

Krakatoa is possibly the most famous volcano, certainly in recent times. The eruption and explosion of Mt St Helens in Washington State, USA was an event that will long be remembered. 57 people and hundreds of animals lost their lives in the St Helens disaster, and hundreds of sq miles were laid to waste, but it paled into insignificance by comparison with Krakatoa.

Vesuvius has been erupting sporadically over the millennia, but the 79AD eruption was recorded by an eye witness, Pliny the Younger. It was because of this record and the more recent uncovering of Pompeii and Herculaneum that we know so much about the event, plus the fact that we often see the volcano erupting on TV from time to time. Vesuvius is still active today, but does not pose such a threat as Krakatoa.

Until 1883 the volcano Krakatoa had been quiet for almost 200 years.

The people living on the islands nearby had grown used to the wispy smoke erupting sporadically from the cone of Krakatoa. Rising to more than 800 metres, the volcano could be seen for many miles by the fishermen in Sunda Straits, and was not feared.

Even in May of that year, after a series of earthquakes and a major eruption of Krakatoa, there was no hint of the disaster which was to follow – the islands are part of the ”ring of fire” in the Pacific and earthquakes and other natural phenomena are accepted as part of life.

Then on May 20th. an explosion inside Krakatoa threw ash almost l0 km. high, and was heard in Dajakarta, 160km. away.

Then people started to worry!

But by the end of May the volcano had become quiet again, and local inhabitants began the task of clearing away the ash and other debris. For almost three weeks there was no activity from Krakatoa. The eruption had been disastrous, with crops ruined by ash and lava. Some areas would never recover, but life would go on. Then just as thoughts were turning to recovery, dull rumblings from the cone were heard again on June l9th.