‘Child of Krakatoa’, the lava bomb-hurling volcano that triggered Indonesia’s latest deadly tsunami
- Since its birth in 1928, Anak Krakatoa has been in a ‘state of semi-continuous eruptive activity’
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 said.
“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.