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Report on Krakatau (Indonesia) — 13 March-19 March 2019


Krakatau

Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 13 March-19 March 2019
Managing Editor: Sally Sennert.

Please cite this report as:

Global Volcanism Program, 2019. Report on Krakatau (Indonesia) (Sennert, S, ed.). Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 13 March-19 March 2019. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.

Weekly Report (13 March-19 March 2019)

Krakatau

Indonesia

6.1009°S, 105.4233°E; summit elev. 285 m

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


PVMBG reported that there were four explosive events at Anak Krakatau on 14 March, recorded at 0816, 1711, 1716, and 2126, producing white plumes that drifted S and SW. An event at 0953 on 16 March produced a white plume that rose 1 km and drifted N. White plumes from events at 0605 and 0905 on 18 March generated white plumes that rose 500 m and drifted N. The Alert Level remained at 3 (on a scale of 1-4), and residents were warned to remain outside of the 5-km radius hazard zone from the crater.

Geological Summary. The renowned Krakatau (frequently mis-named as Krakatoa) volcano lies in the Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra. Collapse of an older edifice, perhaps in 416 or 535 CE, formed a 7-km-wide caldera. Remnants of that volcano are preserved in Verlaten and Lang Islands; subsequently the Rakata, Danan, and Perbuwatan cones were formed, coalescing to create the pre-1883 Krakatau Island. Caldera collapse during the catastrophic 1883 eruption destroyed Danan and Perbuwatan, and left only a remnant of Rakata. This eruption caused more than 36,000 fatalities, most as a result of tsunamis that swept the adjacent coastlines of Sumatra and Java. Pyroclastic surges traveled 40 km across the Sunda Strait and reached the Sumatra coast. After a quiescence of less than a half century, the post-collapse cone of Anak Krakatau (Child of Krakatau) was constructed within the 1883 caldera at a point between the former Danan and Perbuwatan cones. Anak Krakatau has been the site of frequent eruptions since 1927.

Source: Pusat Vulkanologi dan Mitigasi Bencana Geologi (PVMBG, also known as CVGHM)