New eruption of the Krakatau volcano in Indonesia!

For the third time this year, the famous Indonesian volcano Krakatau erupted on April 15! After its impressive collapse at the end of 2018, causing a tsunami that killed more than 400 people, the volcano is resuming its construction cycles…

This new phase eruptive begins on April 15, with a first plume of ash from 700 meters high. A few similar explosions then occur, then the activity increases on the night of April 17 to 18 to become almost continuous. It forms a column of ash that varies in height, up to two kilometers high, as in the previous eruptive phases of this year (February 3-6 and March 24-30).

At times during the night, a glow can be noticed at the rash mouth. This indicates significant temperatures which could indicate that the area around the vent is then dry. Indeed, this one being around the sea level, it is probable that the first explosions are the consequence of the contact between the magma and the sea water. But with time, it seems that the heat magma allows this water to evaporate, for less and less phreatomagmatic explosions…

Destructive events and construction phases

L’history of this volcano alternate long phases of construction and destructive, brief and violent events. In 1883, for example, the Krakatau mountain collapsed into the sea, causing an impressive tsunami that claimed at least 36,000 lives! Then, activity resumed in the middle of the underwater crater formed in 1883 and a cone eventually emerged in 1927. Anak Krakatau, literally “Krakatau’s child”, was born. Over the following decades, this cone grew and reached more than 300 meters high. But the December 22, 2018, the volcano collapsed again, generating another tsunami that killed more than 400 people. Since then, eruptive activity has resumed and gradually rebuilt the volcano.