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View all search resultsLiving on the edge
When the volcano exploded on Aug. 27, 1883, it destroyed the island on which it stood, killed almost 40,000 people in the surrounding area of Java and Sumatra, sent rafts of pumice to Africa, covered the Red Sea in ash and made barometers as far away as Washington, DC go haywire.
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Anak Krakatau volcano spews smoke and ash on Sept. 5, 2026. (Courtesy: Geological Agency/-)
The last time Mount Krakatau erupted in 1883, it was the kind of volcanic eruption that went down in the history books.
When the volcano exploded on Aug. 27, 1883, it destroyed the island on which it stood, killed almost 40,000 people in the surrounding area of Java and Sumatra, sent rafts of pumice to Africa, covered the Red Sea in ash and made barometers as far away as Washington, DC go haywire.
And just like the Mount Tambora eruption in 1815 led to the creation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, it is now widely believed that the global climate disruption from Krakatoa's eruption inspired Edvard Munch's “The Scream”.
Krakatau is a force of nature that no one should trifle with, even if what exists of it today, in the form of Mount Anak Krakatau, is a miniature version of that legendary volcano.
In 2018, a massive landslide caused by volcanic activity inside Anak Krakatau sent a tsunami that killed 430 people in the nearby Tanjung Lesung tourist spot.
So it is a bit of a relief when the two-day eruption of Mt. Anak Krakatau over the weekend did not cause a major disaster that claimed human lives or destroyed homes and businesses. (We are still praying for the safe return of five journalists who went missing near Anak Krakataui's exclusion zone).
Yet, the latest eruption of Anak Krakatau is a fresh reminder of how woefully unprepared authorities are to deal with the fallout from a substantial volcanic eruption.
