Krakatoa or Krakatau,
was a small volcanic island in the Sunda strait, about half way between
Java and Sumatra.

In 1883 an eruption of Mount Krakatoa (sometimes spelled Krakatau) with a force greater than that of several hydrogen bombs caused tidal wave (tsunami) that submerged the coast of the island of Java, killing thirty-six thousand people. The eruption destroyed most of the existing islandsof the Krakatao surrounds. Then new eruptions at the volcano since 1927 have built a new island, called the child of Krakatao, Anak Krakatau.

Before the explosion

View of the Water Place of Anjer Pont, painted by William Daniell in 1794, the Krakatoa mount appears in the background. Anjer is located on the Western coast of Java, at 26 miles (40 Kms) from the Volcano. At that time the Dutch East India Company (Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie or VOC) was governing the island of Java.

1883: the explosion

The fist alert reported in May 1883 by The Times of London.

" On Sunday morning last, from six to ten o'clock, there was a tremendous eruption, with continuous earthquakes and heavy rain of ashes. On Sunday evening and Monday morning, it was continued. The eruption was distinctly seen here until nine o'clock this morning, and the smoke was seen until twelve o'clock; afterwards it cleared up a little, and at this moment the air is clouded again. The Captain Ross reparts from Anjer that on May 22 he was sailing near Java's Fisrt Point and tried to get Prinsen Island in sight, but found that it was surrounded by clouds. Then he steered from Krakatan, but found it to be the same there. the captain observed that the lower island or mountain situated on the north side of Krakatan was totally surrounded by smoke, and from time to time flames arose with loud reports. Fire had broken out in several places, and it is very likely that the trees in the neighbourhood have caught fire. "

The event: Monday, August 27, 1883 at 10:02 am.

At that very moment came the culminating and terrifying main eruption of the Krakatoa.
Krakatoa's final twenty hours and fity-minutes were marked by a number of phases. It started by a series of explosions on Sunday at about 7 p.m.

View of the "Anak Krakatoa" volcano, as it is today. The name means "Child of
Krakatoa", and lays in the ocean in a bay formed after the explosion of the Krakatoa mountain in 1883.

The 1883 irruption, took place in August, and is considered as one the world's biggest
volcano explosion recorded by human in the last centuries, with the Tambora Volcano in Sumbawa on April 1815, an other Indonesian island. Coming back to the Krakatao eruption, the sound was so loud that it was heard in Thailand and in Australia.

NEWS:
Eruption of Anak Krakatoa in November 2007

The Anak Krakatau (Child of Krakatau) volcano sends up powerful clouds of hot gasses, rocks, and lava as a fishing boat is moored offshore early Thursday Nov. 8, 2007, in the Sunda Straits between Java and Sumatra, Indonesia.

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