The Big Bang!

The volcanic eruption also created a tsunami, or huge tidal wave, that swept ashore along the coasts of Java, Sumatra, and other nearby islands. This wall of water exceeded 100 feet (30 meters) in height and engulfed hundreds of villages, drowning nearly their entire populations. Estimates suggest that the tsunami took the lives of as many as 36,000 persons.

A Dutch colonist identified only as de Vries, who was in the village of Anjer on Java, managed to survive by scrambling to the high ground and climbing a tree just as the tsunami struck. He recalled seeing "an immense, enormous mass of water, appearing at first mountain high, rush on with a fearful roar and lightning-like rapidity. . . . I looked around. A frightful sight met my eyes. Where Anjer had stood I saw nothing but a foaming and rushing flood." Before the eruption of August, 1883, Krakatoa covered an area of eleven square miles (twenty-nine square kilometers). Afterward, it measured only about four square miles (ten square kilometers) of lifeless rock. Although there has been no repetition of the events of 1883, periodic eruptions during the last 117 years have accumulated enough lava and ash to form a new island known as Anak Krakatoa, which means "Son of Krakatoa." Today, Anak Krakatoa rises abruptly from the sparkling waters of the Indian Ocean. From time to time, steam and smoke still swirl from the volcanic cone that forms the core of the island, a solemn reminder of its catastrophic past.

Want To Know More? To learn more about Krakatoa and volcanoes visit Volcanoes.Com, Krakatoa, NASA Krakatoa, and Mt. Krakatoa.

Check Out At Your Library: Rupert Mathews' The Eruption of Krakatoa (Grade 2+), Don Nardo and Brian McGovern's Krakatoa (Grade 3+), Tom Simkin and Richard S. Fiske, Krakatoa 1883 (Grade 7+), and Carl Johnson and Dorian Weisel's Fire On The Mountain: The Nature of Volcanoes (Grade 8+).

Something To Think About: The residents of Krakatoa and the surrounding islands were unprepared for the major volcanic eruption that devastated the area. Can you identify the ways in which people today can predict and prepare for the coming of natural disasters?

Next Week: It remains still as one of the deadliest floods in United States history. What makes the story even more tragic was that it might have been prevented. Next week come and learn about the Johnstown Flood.

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