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Flights, sea voyages safe despite Anak Krakatau eruption: Official
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Sailors watch Mount Anak Krakatau erupt in January 2011. (Shutterstock/Byelikova Oksana)
M
ount Anak Krakatau (child of Krakatoa), located in South Lampung regency, saw an increase in magmatic activity, resulting in an eruption that began with volcanic smoke reaching up to 200 meters from its summit.
The head of the eastern volcanic disaster mitigation subsector of the Volcanic and Geological Disaster Mitigation Center, Devy Kamil Syahbana, said in Bandung on Saturday, “There is a threat of eruption, prompting us to issue a recommendation to ban all activities within 1 kilometer radius from the crater and mountain area.”
The Volcanic and Geological Disaster Mitigation Center has issued a level two alert out of four levels. The alert was effective as of June 18.
“The recommendation has been issued because of the alert increase. [The eruption] is not a threat to flights or sea voyages. Tourist activities are also still allowed as long as people don’t climb the mountain,” he added.
Read also: Alert statuses for 19 volcanoes raised
The increasing activity of Mount Anak Krakatau, which emerged from beneath the surface of the sea following a big eruption in 1883, is caused by a subduction of the Indo Australia plate beneath the Eurasia continental plate. The friction between the two plates 100 to 150 km below sea level results in heat energy that causes magmatic movements within the mountain.
Mount Anak Krakatau has grown 800 meters from sea level since 1927.
Devy assured that the eruption’s potential impact is far from the eruption in 1883 that reached index six out of eight scales on the Volcanic Explosive Index (VEI). One of the indicators is the height of the volcanic smoke column emerging from the mountain.
"The height of the smoke column in 1883 was more than 40 kilometers from sea level. Every one VEI increase is a 10 times difference. The current eruption resulted in a smoke column that was less than 1 kilometer high. Worrying about whether the impact will be as big as 1883 is unnecessary,” he said. (asw)
