Anak Krakatoa, the 'child' of the Krakatoa volcano, caused the tsunami, officials said (AFP Photo/FERDI AWED) |
Jakarta (AFP) - The volcano that triggered a deadly tsunami in Indonesia late Saturday emerged from the sea around the legendary Krakatoa 90 years ago and has been on a high-level eruption watchlist for the past decade.
Anak
Krakatoa (the "Child of Krakatoa") has been particularly active since
June, occasionally sending massive plumes of ash high into the sky and in
October a tour boat was nearly hit by lava bombs from the erupting volcano.
Experts say
Anak Krakatoa emerged around 1928 in the caldera of Krakatoa, a volcanic island
that violently erupted in 1883.
With
subsequent lava flows it grew from a submarine setting to become a small
volcanic island, with the cone now standing at an altitude of around 300 metres
(1,000 feet) above sea level.
Since its
birth, Anak Krakatoa has been in a "state of semi-continuous eruptive
activity", growing bigger as it experiences eruptions every two to three
years, volcanology professor Ray Cas from Monash University in Australia told
AFP.
Anak
Krakatoa (shown during an eruption in July 2018) has remained active
since it
emerged from the sea nearly 90 years ago (AFP Photo/FERDI AWED)
|
"Most
of the eruptions are relatively small on the scale of explosive eruptions ...
and there's also eruptions that produce lava flows," he added.
Cas said
the latest event appeared to be "a relatively small explosive
eruption" but could then have triggered or coincided with a submarine
event like a landslide or earthquake, causing the deadly tsunami.
No one
lives on the island, but the peak is popular with tourists and is a major study
area for volcanologists.
The island
is part of the Ujung Kulon National Park, "demonstrating on-going
evolution of geological processes", since the Krakatoa eruption, UNESCO
says on its World Heritage site listing for the area.
When
Krakatoa erupted on August 27, 1883 it shot a column of ash more than 20
kilometres (12 miles) into the air in a series of powerful explosions that were
heard in Australia and up to 4,500 kilometres away near Mauritius.
The Pacific
Ring of Fire (AFP Photo/Sabrina BLANCHARD)
|
The massive
cloud of ash plunged the area into darkness for two days. The dust gave rise to
spectacular sunsets and sunrises around the world the following year and
disrupted weather patterns for years.
The tsunami
triggered by the eruption killed more than 36,000 people in one of the world's
worst natural disasters.
Indonesia's
proximity to the junction of three continental plates, which jostle under
immense pressure, makes it particularly vulnerable to earthquakes and
eruptions.
The
archipelago nation has nearly 130 active volcanoes, forming part of the Pacific
"Ring of Fire" -- an arc of intense seismic activity that stretches
from quake-prone Japan through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific basin.
VIDEO: Hundreds of buildings were destroyed as the volcano-triggered tsunami slammed without warning into Indonesia's Sunda Strait pic.twitter.com/rCH0hbtVg0— AFP news agency (@AFP) December 23, 2018
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