Anak Krakatau Volcano [UPSC Notes]

The volcano island located in Indonesia’s Sunda Strait between the main Java and Sumatra islands has erupted at least seven times in a month in 2023. In this article, you can learn more about the Anak Krakatau volcano in Indonesia and also about the island country’s other volcanoes. This topic is relevant for the IAS exam geography segment.

Anak Krakatau Volcano

Anak Krakatau, which means “child of Kratakau,” is the offspring of the famous Krakatau, whose monumental eruption in 1883 triggered a period of global cooling. Krakatau is a caldera in the Sunda Strait between the islands of Java and Sumatra in the Indonesian province of Lampung. 

Image source: Indian Express

• It has remained on the second-highest alert on a scale of four since 2018. Authorities in May 2023 warned residents and tourists to stay 5 kilometres from the crater.
• The volcano island is located in Indonesia’s Sunda Strait between the main Java and Sumatra islands.
• It was the longest eruption since the explosive collapse of the mountain caused a deadly tsunami in 2018 along the coasts of Java and Sumatra. 

Other Volcanoes of Indonesia

• Mount Merapi volcano is located on the border of Central Java and Yogyakarta provinces. The mountain is situated just 30 km from Yogyakarta. Mount Merapi was already on the country’s second-highest alert level after the eruptions of 2020. The last major eruption of Mount Merapi was back in 2010.
• Mount Semeru is another volcanic mountain in Indonesia. Semeru – also known as “The Great Mountain” – is the highest volcano in Java at 3,676m and one of the most active. It last erupted in 2022, killing at least 50 people and leaving streets filled with mud and ash.

The eruption also follows a series of earthquakes on the west of Java island, located about 640 km east of Indonesia’s capital Jakarta, including one in May 2023 that killed more than 300 people.

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