Anak Krakatau Eruptions: Volcano Facts for Exams
Why in the news
Violent eruptions at Indonesia’s Mount Anak Krakatau smothered Jakarta and nearby provinces in ash, and flights from Jakarta airport were suspended.
Key facts
- Type: active volcanic island and stratovolcano with a pyroclastic cone.
- Origin: the 1883 Krakatoa blast destroyed two-thirds of the original island; underwater activity began in early 1927.
- Location: inside Ujung Kulon National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the final refuge of the Javan rhinoceros.
- Position: Pacific Ring of Fire, around 700 km north of the Sunda Trench.
Volcano terms
- VEI: a logarithmic 0-8 scale of explosivity.
- Strombolian eruptions are mild and frequent, Vulcanian more explosive and ash-rich, Plinian the most violent.
- Stratovolcano: layered cone of lava and pyroclastic material; Somma volcano: new cone growing inside an older caldera.
Exam angle
- Indonesia has the most active volcanoes of any country; also Merapi, Tambora, Semeru, Sinabung.
- Tambora’s 1815 blast, the biggest on record, led to the 1816 “Year Without a Summer”.