Another Indonesian tsunami may be imminent, as experts fear extreme weather could collapse Anak Krakatoa volcano
- Heavy rains that are expected to last until Wednesday afternoon could trigger landslides, sending the flanks of Anak Krakatoa crashing into the sea
- The death toll from Saturday’s disaster has risen to 429
Extreme weather around the Anak Krakatoa volcano in Indonesia could trigger another devastating tsunami, experts warned, as the death toll from Saturday’s disaster rose to 429.
At least 154 others are still missing and 1,485 were injured from the tsunami, caused by an eruption of Anak Krakatoa, that hit coastal areas around the narrow Sunda Strait between the country’s two most populous islands, Java and Sumatra.
“We keep monitoring the tremor activities of Mt Anak Krakatoa, particularly under [current] extreme weather and high waves because such conditions can potentially cause the collapse of the volcano’s flank, going down to the sea, and trigger a tsunami,” Dwikorita Karnawati, chief of the Meteorological, Climatology and Geophysics Agency, told a press conference just before midnight on Tuesday.
She expressed fears that heavy rain expected to last until Wednesday afternoon could cause imminent landslides – with ruinous consequences.
Before the tsunami that killed hundreds, Krakatoa’s massive eruption in 1883 rocked the world
“The walls of the volcano’s caldera have been getting fragile, especially if heavy rains pour onto it,” she said.