By: Becca Blosser, Sarah Jarvis, Karen McDonald, Lynn Parmer

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Krakatau 1883
By Becca Blosser, Sarah Jarvis, Karen McDonald,
Lynn Parmer
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Overview

• Where is it?
• History
• Timeline of Eruption
• After the Eruption
• Tsunami
• Significance

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(No Transcript)
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Historical Activity

• Prehistoric cone
• Three islands
• Rakata
• Perboewatan
• Danan
• Krakatau Island
• 1680 eruption

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• On may 20 at 1030 in the morning, a volcanic
  eruption was observed on the Island of Krakatau
  from the ship. At first we saw from the island a
  white cumulus cloud rising fast. It rose almost
  vertically until, after about half an hour, it
  had reached a height of 11,000 m.
• Capt. Hollmann, German warship Elisabeth, May
  1883

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1883 Timeline of Eruption
May
June
July
August
Continued activity, although little is known
about specific events
Explosion from Perboe-watan vent, clouds of
smoke, ash
More frequent earthquakes, loud reports heard,
final eruption and resulting tsunami
Again, continued activity, but little specific
information
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• We were lying off Anjer, at the western end of
  Java, on the straits of Sunda It was a real
  paradise, a profusion of vegetation rising from
  the seashore to the summit of hills several
  thousand feet high It was enhanced by the subtle
  scent of the spice trees and the sweet, yet weird
  and melancholy chant of some of the natives...
  There were three of us in the boat, and we rested
  a long time trying to take in the strange
  grandeur of our surroundings it was at this time
  that we noticed a long straight column of black
  smoke, going up from the peak of Krakatoa
  Island
• Seaman Dalby on the Hope, June 1883

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Why so violent an eruption?

• All three volcanoes erupted
• New, hotter magma?
• Water added to the chamber?

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No human tongue could tell what happened. I
think hell is the only word applicable to what we
saw and went through. I am sure that I was burnt
mainly by fire that spurted out of the ground as
we went along. At first, thinking only of
glowing ash showers, we endeavored to shelter
ourselves under beds, taking the risk of the
house falling in, which no doubt it did on a
great many, but the hot ashes came up through the
crevices of the floor and burned us still
more. native of Kalianda, August 1883
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After the Eruption

• Cloud of ash and tephra 25 km high
• Rain of pumice stone
• Death toll 4500
• Tsunami
• Blue sunsets
• Acid rain

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• We did not take much notice at first, until the
  reports grew very loud. Then we noticed that
  Krakatoa was completely enveloped in smoke.
  Afterwards came on the thick darkness, so black
  and intense that I could not see my hand before
  my eyes Towards night, everything became worse.
  The reports became deafening, then natives
  cowered down panic-stricken, and a red fiery
  glare was visible in the sky above the burning
  mountain, twenty-five miles away.
• an elderly Dutch pilot living in Anjer, August
  1883

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Tsunami

• Seepage of seawater into magma chamber
• Massive submarine eruption
• Displacement of water
• Waves as tall as 30 m
• Death toll 36,000
• Felt as far as 500 mi. away

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• I was working a long way from the seafive to
  six km from the coast. A lot of other natives
  were working with me in the paddee fieldWe had
  gone to work as usual, in spite of the volcano.
  We did not think it would hurt us. And all of a
  sudden there came a great noise. We looked round
  at once and saw a great black thing coming toward
  us. It was very high and strong, and we soon saw
  that it was water. Trees and houses were washed
  away as it came along. The people near us began
  to cry out and run for their lives. We all ran
  towards the steep sloping ground nearby and tried
  to climb up out of the way of the water. It was
  too quick for most of them, and many were drowned
  along at my side.
• A survivor from Java, August 1883

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So whats the significance?

• The more we can learn from previous volcano
  eruptions, the better we can prepare for them
  when they happen in the future
• If history repeats itself, and the unexpected
  always happens, how incapable must Man be of
  learning from experience. George Bernard Shaw
• History is a cyclic poem written by time upon
  the memories of man. Percy Shelley

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Test Questions

• 1) Which hazard involved in this event caused the
  most deaths?
• 2) Give one reason Krakatau erupted so violently.
• 3) What effects resulted from the ash erupting
  into the atmosphere?