Report on Krakatau (Indonesia) — December 2002
Bulletin of the Global Volcanism Network, vol. 27, no. 12 (December 2002)
Managing Editor: Richard Wunderman.
Krakatau (Indonesia) Seismicity dominated by volcanic earthquakes through at least December 2002
Please cite this report as:
Global Volcanism Program, 2002. Report on Krakatau (Indonesia) (Wunderman, R., ed.). Bulletin of the Global Volcanism Network, 27:12. Smithsonian Institution. https://doi.org/10.5479/si.GVP.BGVN200212-262000.
Krakatau
Indonesia
6.102°S, 105.423°E; summit elev. 155 m
All times are local (unless otherwise noted)
During 9 September through at least late December 2002, seismicity at Krakatau was dominated by A-and B-type volcanic earthquakes (table 2). Throughout the report period, clouds obscured the view of the summit. Krakatau remained at Alert Level 2.
Table 2. Earthquakes registered at Krakatau during 9 September-29 December 2002. No data were available during 16-29 September. Courtesy VSI.
| Date | A-type volcanic | B-type volcanic | Tectonic |
| 09 Sep-15 Sep 2002 | 2 | 6 | 3 |
| 30 Sep-06 Oct 2002 | 8 | 31 | 6 |
| 07 Oct-13 Oct 2002 | 30 | 109 | 6 |
| 14 Oct-20 Oct 2002 | 18 | 64 | 3 |
| 21 Oct-27 Oct 2002 | 7 | 55 | 5 |
| 28 Oct-03 Nov 2002 | 8 | 54 | 11 |
| 04 Nov-10 Nov 2002 | 28 | 56 | 5 |
| 11 Nov-18 Nov 2002 | 2 | 31 | 5 |
| 02 Dec-08 Dec 2002 | 16 | 50 | 5 |
| 09 Dec-15 Dec 2002 | 13 | 53 | 13 |
| 16 Dec-22 Dec 2002 | 6 | 32 | 1 |
| 23 Dec-29 Dec 2002 | 11 | 59 | 2 |
Geologic Background. The renowned volcano Krakatau (frequently misstated as Krakatoa) lies in the Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra. Collapse of the ancestral Krakatau edifice, perhaps in 416 or 535 CE, formed a 7-km-wide caldera. Remnants of this ancestral volcano are preserved in Verlaten and Lang Islands; subsequently Rakata, Danan, and Perbuwatan volcanoes 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, the 2nd largest in Indonesia during historical time, caused more than 36,000 fatalities, most as a result of devastating 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 cones of Danan and Perbuwatan. Anak Krakatau has been the site of frequent eruptions since 1927.
Information Contacts: Volcanological Survey of Indonesia (VSI), Jalan Diponegoro No. 57, Bandung 40122, Indonesia (URL: http://www.vsi.esdm.go.id/).
