Krakatau

Krakatau, also Krakatoa or Rakata, small volcanic island, south-western Indonesia, in the Sunda Strait, between Java and Sumatra. Until the night of August 26-27, 1883, Krakatau had an area of about 47 sq km (18 sq mi); at that time, a volcanic eruption that had been continuing intermittently since May 20 culminated in a series of gigantic explosions that destroyed most of the island. The waves produced by the submarine earthquake that accompanied the eruption attained a maximum height of 35 m (120 ft) and travelled some 13,000 km (8,000 mi); they killed about 36,000 people along the coasts of Java and Sumatra and destroyed incalculable amounts of property. One explosion produced one of the loudest noises in history; it was heard at a distance of about 4,800 km (3,000 mi). The rock ejected was in the form of fine dust, which was diffused by aerial currents throughout the upper atmosphere; for three years thereafter, observers all over the world reported brilliant colorations of sunrise and sunset, caused by the refraction of the rays of the Sun by these tiny particles. In 1927 volcanic eruptions on the seafloor began to produce a new island on the same spot, which is known as Anak Krakatau (child of Krakatau); it rose above sea level in 1928, and had reached 190 m (622 ft) above sea level by 1973. It is uninhabited.