Anak Krakatoa
Volcanoes are powerful things, and they can have massive effects on our world. These extraordinary things, can be found in most continents around the world and in many different climates. The Asian Pacific is home to many volcanoes and one in particular is Krakatoa. Krakatoa is a volcano famous for its power and what destruction it has done in the past.
diagram of a volcano
Before we continue on about Krakatoa, you need to know more about volcanoes and how they erupt. Volcanoes are mountains, but they are very different from each other. Unlike mountains, volcanoes are formed when the earths tectonic plates pull apart and cause magma to rise to the surface. The magma hardens and creates a volcano. A volcanoes eruption happens a similar way. Deep down in the earths crust it is so hot, that some rocks melt and become magma. This magma then rises and collects in the magma chambers of the volcanoes. Eventually, the magma rises up and spurts out the crater of the volcano. The magma that comes out is now called lava, and as well as this the volcano creates ash cloud. Now , there are some volcanoes that are explosive and some that are not. This depends on how runny or sticky the magma is. If the magma is thin and runny, gases can escape it easily. This makes it slow moving, so it just pours out of the volcano. If the magma is thick and sticky, gases cannot escape it. This causes pressure to build up until it eventually explodes. In these eruptions the lava breaks into whats called tephra. These are pretty much just rocks, and range from as small as a pebble to full sized boulders.
Now, Krakatoa is a volcano that generally erupts with an explosion, and it's so powerful that it can be heard from kilometers away. So then, where is Krakatoa? Well like I said before, it is found in the Asia pacific region, and like a lot of the worlds volcanoes, it is apart of the ring of fire. In fact it is located in the Sunda Strait between java and Sumatra , Indonesia. Anak Krakatoa is an island, and the name Krakatoa is also referred to when talking about the group of islands that surround it. Other than Anak Krakatoa there are three more islands, Verlaten, Lang and Krakatoa. Now Verlaten and Lang have been there forever, and so has Anak Krakatoa and Krakatoa but these two have change from a major event that occurred.
Anak Krakatoa
Before this major event Anak Krakatoa and Krakatoa were actually one island. Krakatoa island was home to three main volcanos, Rakata, Danan and Perbuwatan. This was until 1833 when the Krakatoa volcano erupted with a powerful force. Before the major eruption, Krakatoa had shown signs from late may 1833, when it erupted, plummeting a cloud of smoke ten kilometers up into the air. By august the volcano was regularly spewing lava and gas from side vents. Then in the afternoon of August 26 1833 the first eruption occurred around 1.pm, creating a giant cloud of smoke and causing a tsunami to occur later on. The next morning August 27th, the volcano erupted three more times. The last eruption occurred just after 10.am, this was the biggest volcanic eruption recorded. The eruption was heard from over 4,000km away in Perth Australia, and created a force 10,000 times more powerful than the bomb that devastated Hiroshima. As Krakatoas underwater magma chamber emptied, seawater rushed in, sucking ships towards it. Then, the volcanoes cone collapsed, creating up to 130 foot tsunami's. These tsunamis engulfed villages on the coast of Sumatra, Java and islands like Sebuku, and Sebesi, and took, over 36,000 lives. This also caused itself and a great part of the island of Krakatoa including the Danan and Perbuwatan volcanoes, to be submerged in sea water. The eruption had spurted out massive amounts of lava, had sent debris estimated 34-50 miles into the air and even ten days later there was still dust falling over 4,800 kilometers away. The aftermath of the volcano effected the whole world, with average global temperatures dropping as much as 1.2 degrees celsius. Even the dust particles from the ash, reflected sunlight resulting in spectacular sunsets throughout the world months afterwards, but there was also the unfortunate reality of how many lives were lost and homes that were destroyed.
Krakatoa had affected the whole world in a short space of time. Whether it was a big as the tsunamis that killed and wiped out so many, or as little as some ash cloud falling from the sky. But the people all across the other side of the world couldn't have known what happened let alone where. Well in fact they did, within minutes after the eruption. See Krakatoa was the first disaster to affect the world after the telegraph had been invented. So people around the world new about the eruption, and later on finding out about the tsunamis, that killed and effected so many people and villages. So did they try to help? Yes, Even though most people didn't have much information about the disaster, there was a relief effort set up by the Dutch (This being because Indonesia was a Dutch colony).
By September 29th 1833, the relief fund had reached 657,505 guilders, coming from the Netherlands, Singapore, London, Petang and the East Indies. These efforts helped to re-locate families, rebuild lighthouses and ports, and even lay to rest as many bodies as they could recover. There are many places that recovered and are thriving to this day, but others were never repopulated. Like in Java where an area once home to many people was reverted into a jungle and is now the Ujung Kulon National Park.
Volcanos are all around the world, and no matter where they are, they can affect anywhere. Krakatoa is a good example of how powerful and destructive volcanoes can be. It changed the world, and effected so many people's lives. Even today Krakatoa is active, and since 1928 when it reappeared from the water, it has been growing at the rate of 13cm per week. So, we just have to wait and see if Krakatoa will release its powerful destruction again.
By Lauren
By September 29th 1833, the relief fund had reached 657,505 guilders, coming from the Netherlands, Singapore, London, Petang and the East Indies. These efforts helped to re-locate families, rebuild lighthouses and ports, and even lay to rest as many bodies as they could recover. There are many places that recovered and are thriving to this day, but others were never repopulated. Like in Java where an area once home to many people was reverted into a jungle and is now the Ujung Kulon National Park.
Volcanos are all around the world, and no matter where they are, they can affect anywhere. Krakatoa is a good example of how powerful and destructive volcanoes can be. It changed the world, and effected so many people's lives. Even today Krakatoa is active, and since 1928 when it reappeared from the water, it has been growing at the rate of 13cm per week. So, we just have to wait and see if Krakatoa will release its powerful destruction again.
By Lauren
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