Echoes of Krakatoa

Everyone’s still talking about the earthquake and the Tsunami that killed thousands of people all over the world especially in Indonesia. It’s been nearly a month, and still the whole world is still in frenzy in sending aid to the affected. Everywhere, people are still talking about the effect of the Tsunami and how it has devastated lives of hundreds and thousands of people. Lots of documentaries are being aired and I was fortunate enough to caught one that was very interesting. It was about Krakatoa and what had happened more then a century ago.

In 1883, the island volcano of Krakatoa practically exploded with devastating fury, stunning the entire world and its destruction affected the world on a global scale atmospherically which lasted for several years. Only one third of the island was left as a remnant of the original island. The great eruption was equivalent to 200 megatons of TNT. In contrast, the Hiroshima atomic bomb was only about 20 kilotons!!

The island has a history of violent volcanic activity, but nothing prepared the world for the horror of its destruction. It was a ticking time bomb, and the study of volcanoes was only in its infancy. No one could have predicted the velocity and magnitude of it’s destruction with the knowledge that had been accumulated till then. No equipment or gizmos invented in that era could have alerted the people of the terror that was about to unfold. A similar eruption occurred in 416 AD. The volcano was formed by the subduction of the Indian-Australian Plate under the Eurasian Plate. Its eruption destroyed the volcano of Krakatoa. The remnants of this older volcano are just two small islands. Subsequently, 3 volcanoes combined to form the island of Krakatoa.

The eruption in 1883 had several effects which should be noted;
The explosions were heard on Rodriguez Island 4653km distant away across the Indian Ocean.
Tsunamis as high as 40 metres, devastating everything in it’s path and hurling ashore coral blocks weighing as much as 600 tons (one of which demolished a lighthouse)
In the immediate area, there was total darkness continued for 3 days.
Nearby islands were buried in thick layers of ash and plant and animal life did not begin to re-establish itself to any degree on these islands for nearly five years.
Ash fell on Singapore 840 km away and similar precipitation of ash occurred on ships as far as 6000km away.
Recording barographs documented the passage of the airwave, some as many as 7 times as the wave bounced back and forth between the eruption site and its antipodes for 5 days after the explosion.
Blue and green suns were observed as fine ash and aerosol, erupted possibly 50 km into the stratosphere and circled the equator in 13 days. Three months after the eruption these products had spread to higher latitudes causing vivid red sunset afterglows that could be seen in New York. Unusual sunsets all over the world continued for 3 years.
Rafts of floating pumice-locally thick enough to support men, trees, and biological passengers-crossed the Indian Ocean in 10 months. Others reached Melanesia, and were still afloat even two years after the eruption.


On the brighter side of things, the volcanic dust veil that created such spectacular atmospheric effects also acted as a solar radiation filter, lowering global temperatures as much as 1.2 degree C in the year after the eruption. Temperatures did not return to normal until 1888. It shakes you to the core to know that the Krakatoa eruption is not the largest in recorded history. In fact, in the fifteenth century in the Aegean Sea, Santorin’s explosion was six and one half times greater than that of Krakatoa.

Anak Krakatoa, or child of Krakatoa is and will keep growing in size. It is undoubted that some time in the future, perhaps in a few hundred years, a large explosion similar to the 1883 explosion is expected. It is only a question of time. Mother Nature is truly a powerful force that affects everyone, from the kings and emperors to the paupers and homeless everywhere on earth. Her power cannot be harnessed and she will not be tamed. She sure is one wild woman!!!