Day 69: Krakatoa - East Of Java

 

Before this trip, all I knew about Krakatoa was that it was a huge volcano that blew in 1883 and was featured in the '60s action movie, "Krakatoa - East Of Java." It turns out that the movie was re-released in 1970 as "Volcano" because Krakatoa is to the WEST of Java! So - time for some research.




The August 26-27, 1883 explosion made headlines worldwide as the most violent volcanic event in recent history. The eruption was equivalent to 200 megatons of TNT—about 13,000 times the nuclear yield of the Little Boy bomb that devastated Hiroshima, Japan, during World War II and four times the yield of Tsar Bomba, the most powerful nuclear device ever detonated. It ejected 6 cubic miles of rock and was heard as far away as Alice Springs, Australia. According to the official records of the Dutch East Indies Company, 165 villages and towns were destroyed. At least 36,417 people died, and many more thousands were injured, mostly from the tsunamis that followed the explosion. That tidal wave actually traveled three and a half times around the globe!


The eruption destroyed two-thirds of Krakatoa. After a 40+ year pause, the volcano erupted again in 1927, and subsequent eruptions have built a new island in the same area. Historical records detail a huge eruption back in 416 AD, and seven more between 850 AD and 1530 AD. And remember this is just ONE of ONE HUNDRED AND TEN active volcanoes in Indonesia (the most in the world).

Most recently, Krakatoa blew its top in December 2018, resulting in a large tsunami when one of the calderas collapsed inward. It's still steaming today.

 Fortunately, on this trip, the closest we come is 250 miles!!

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