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.
The activity increased over the next few days, building in intensity. Krakatoa was not finished: there was more to come!
Local inhabitants packed their belongings in vehicles and boats and moved away from the sinister mountain, while lava flowed and ash spewed into the air.
Then at l pm on August 26th a series of explosions, each one more violent than the first, rocked the island.
By 2pm ash had risen from the cone to a height of 27km.
The cataclysmic climax was reached the following day.
At 10am. Krakatoa exploded with such violence that it was heard over 32OOkms away in Australia, and even further in the Indian Ocean.
Ash was forced to a height 8Okm. Pressure waves were recorded in all parts of the world. 16 cubic km. of rock and ash were blown into the air to fall back to earth and cover an area of 775,000 sq km. The sea surrounding the island was covered in a layer of floating pumice so thick that shipping was halted. Ash completely obliterated the sunlight and there was total darkness over a large area.
But worse was to come! Not from the volcano; it was almost silent.
Most of Krakatoa had been obliterated and covered by 250 metres of ocean after the final explosion, and it was comparatively quiet. But racing across the ocean was a tsunami, a tidal wave of gigantic proportions and enormous energy. In deep water its height was only a few feet and barely noticeable by shipping, but as the wave reached shallower depths its immensity was revealed as the height increased.
Rolling across the ocean at over 700 kilometres per hour it attained a height of 35 metres as it reached surrounding islands.
165 villages on the coast were washed away without a trace and 36,000 people lost their lives!
When the tidal wave reached Port Alfred in South Africa it was still more than 30 centimeters high. Even in the English Channel it was recorded at 5 centimeters.
In the past 120 years Krakatoa has been slowly rebuilding itself. In 1962, son of Krakatoa had reached a height of 132 metres above sea level.
The volcano is still active! Nowadays tourists climb its slopes, but it is as unpredictable as ever. It is inevitable that it will erupt again, as it has done so many times in the past. Son of Krakatoa - like father like son, is recidivist, a repeat offender. It has exploded many times in the past, then built up to 800 metres or more above sea level before cataclysmically exploding again.
Since 1928, when Krakatoa appeared above the surface of the water for the first time since the disastrous explosion in 1883, it has been building in height at the rate of almost 13cm a week! It is still very active indeed, with multiple eruptions over the past 50 years.
Based on its history it is overdue for a major eruption - or something worse.
Will we see again another explosion as fearful as the one that happened over 120 years ago?
Who knows? Krakatoa remains a ticking bomb!
