Natural Disasters
Natural Disasters
Natural Disasters
The news about the eruption, its following tsunami and the
more than 36,000 victims travelled fast thanks to the recently
installed worldwide telegraphic network.
The effects of the eruption were also noted all around the world.
Krakatau was the first scientifically well recorded and studied eruption of a volcano, from the very beginning to its
disastrous ending.
Unfortunately, nobody realized the real danger of Krakatau. As the island was uninhabitable it was believed that it would
pose no threat to human lives. Between August 26 and 27 a series of explosions almost totally destroyed the volcano, causing a
series of tsunami-waves that killed 36,000 people along the coasts of Java and Sumatra.
The story of Krakatau is still not over. In 1930, in the caldera formed by the explosion
and collapse of the old volcano a new one, Anak Krakatoa, the child of Krakatau, started to grow.
The child has grown fast, displaying a continuous activity since its first eruption it rises by 16 feet
per year and most probably will keep growing.