|
|
Krakatau Volcano, Indonesia.
Type of volcano: Caldera.
Location: Sunda Strait, Indonesia.
Altitude: 814m.(Rakata) (Anak krakatau 324m (May 2011) )
Photos: Total 87 available in format/sizes: Information under each post. There is too large quantity of photos of Krakatau to be presented on one page, so I have split the photos up in different pages, click the links below to go to the respective trip photos.
Krakatau, is a volcanic island made of lava in the Sunda Strait between the islands of Java and Sumatra in Indonesia. The name is used for the island group, the main island (also called Rakata), and the volcano as a whole. The island exploded in 1883, killing approximately 40,000 people, although some estimates put the death toll much higher. The explosion is considered to be the loudest sound ever heard in modern history, with reports of it being heard nearly 4,800 km from its point of origin. The shock wave from the explosion was recorded on barographs around the globe.
A new island volcano, named Anak Krakatau or Child of Krakatoa rose above the waterline in 1927. Anak Krakatau has grown at an average rate of five inches (13 cm) per week since the 1950s. This equates to an average growth of 6.8 metres per year. The island is still active, with its most recent eruptive episode having begun in 1994. Quiet periods of a few days have alternated with almost continuous Strombolian eruptions since then, with occasional much larger explosions.
Read more in depth Information about Krakatau at The Smithsonian's Global Volcanism Program
Information on my montly trips to Krakatau, and how to join: Read more
Current activity at Krakatau (Sep2011 - Jan 2012)
I decided to feature a "current activity report" for Krakatau Volcano on this website. The information in these reports, was primarely thought to be used for my personal studies. However since I get many inquiries about the status, I decided to produce the information I gather, here, trough weekly reports. I realize and would like to remark that these reports will obviously have shortages, in many respects, since I cant verify all the information and im not a volcanologist either. Personally I think it gives a simple but realistic picture of what is going on the volcano.
See it here
I use these sources: The Krakatau observatory (PVMG), MODIS data, Global smithsonian volcanic activity reports, media reports, local people in who lives in the vicinity of Krakatau, and my personal my monthly observation trip
Krakatau photography 2009-2012
8th January 2012
Visited Krakatau briefly on Sunday 8th January on what should have been a overnight trip but what ended up on being a short 3 hour visit. The earthquake swarm at Krakatau that started in the end of September, which peaked with 5-6000 shallow earthquakes a day in October/November is now at a level of 3-400. I observed minor strombolian activity on my visit on the night on 13th November, but on this visit I observed no such activity. Locals in the area confirmed no activity in the last weeks. Additionally according to the MODIS thermal monitoring of global hotspots system, there have been no hotspot activity at krakatau since the 28th of November 2011. However, remembering the large earthquake swarm seen a couple of month back and the heavy venting seen at Krakatau at the moment, activity will most likely pick up soon.
Because of the short period of the visit and me having to plan for the return to Java, trough un-predictable weather and heavy seas of the rainy season, there was not much time for photography on this trip.
State: Repose.
Type of activity: Continuous steam/gas emissions reaching 2-300m. in height.
Photos: 6 available in format/size: RAW/JPG - 5182 x 3456 pixels.
See the photos
12-13th November 2011
Activity on the Anak Krakatau volcano has picked up the last week, so decided to head there on the weekend. Spent one night on Verlaten Island, which is a island situated 1km west of the active Anak Krakatau. Had a magnificent evening with clear weather and a full-moon, a perfect setting for photographing eruptions during the night. I did not sleep a second.
State: Active.
Type of activity: Strombolian eruptions. Intervals of the eruptions varied between 30seconds to a few minutes. The eruptions were low to modestly strong, often accompanied by quite strong sounds from the volcano. Lava bombs ejected by the volcano did not travel far from the crater, as most of the material was ejected straight into the air and fell back into the crater, causing the crater to almost constantly being illuminated by the lava during night, something I have never seen before at Krakatau. No ash emissions.
Photos: 19 available in format/size: RAW/JPG - 4752 x 3168 pixels. 1000+ other photos not presented on this webpage.
See the photos
8-9th October 2011
This is a one minute part of the recording from the Krakatau seismograph of Saturday 8th october.
State: Repose.
Type of activity seen: Steam/gas emissions. The seismograph recorded more than 5000 shallow earthquakes on 9th of October.
Photos: 3 available in format/size: RAW/JPG - 4752 x 3168 pixels.
See the photos
Seismograph readings at the Krakatau observatory, Pasauran, West Java. (Saturday 8th October) The seismograph recorded more than 5000 shallow earthquakes on this day.
13th August 2011
Revisited "the Anak", as my Indonesian friend Sam, who often accompany me to the Volcano, usually calls it. "Anak" being the Indonesian word for child, it really is growing in size. I can now really see that a lot of mass have been added since January. The majority of ejected material still falls down on the southern flank, although some material obviously end up on the other side�s as well.
During this visit, Anak Krakatau wasn�t emitting anything but gas. This gave me the opportunity to visit the island itself. I came ashore on the western side of the island, but only ventured a few tens of meters in front of the forested area. I had reports that it had just recently stopped with its normal strombolian eruptions, and didn�t want to risk anything, having the explosive eruptions in June fresh in memory. On the western side I observed many recently ejected lava blocks and some lava bombs. I even brought a nice sample of one of the ejected blocks home, weighing around 4kg, the people who accompanied me on the trip probably thought I lacked a decent hobby..
Beside one-shot photography, I also made a 30second time lapse video from the Anak krakatau volcano that emitted gas on 13th August 2011. Unfortunately photo conditions weren�t optimal during the time I made the time lapse, very hazy.
State: Repose.
Type of activity: Continious gas emissions.
Photos: 22 available in format/size: RAW/JPG - 4752 x 3168 pixels.
See the photos
Western side of Anak Krakatau . A small forested area can survive here, as they dont get hit by that many lava bombs as the other flanks.
25-26 June 2011
Anak Krakatau had not shown much activity since January/February 2011, so I made a trip as fast I got news that it had started had entered a new phase of eruptions. Spent the night on the beach on one of the remaining islands from the old Krakatau, that blew up in 1886. The intervals between the eruptions were between 30min to 4 hours, and during the night I only successfully caught 3. The eruptions with visual lava bombs being thrown out of the crater, only lasted for approximately 10 seconds. Interestingly I also observed local lightning above the crater during the eruptions at night.
State: Active.
Intervals between eruptions: 30min to 4 hours.
Type of activity: Possible volcanian eruption seen. A few small pyroclastic flows. Lava bombs and volcanic blocks ejected during eruptions. Lightning seen in the ash-plume during night.
Photos: 18 available in format/size: RAW/JPG - 4752 x 3168 pixels. 500+ other photos not presented on this webpage.
See the photos
22th January 2011.
Anak Krakatau was very active, and had strombolian eruptions 4-6 times per hour. An very interesting experience, however high caution had to be taken during the trip, especially since I was taking some students with me on this trip.
State: Active.
Intervals between eruptions: 5min to 45min.
Type of activity: Strombolian eruptions.
Photos: 23 available in format/size: RAW/JPG - 4752 x 3168 pixels. 500+ other photos not presented on this webpage.
See the photos
15th November 2009
My first trip to Anak krakatau. The volcano was not active during the visit, therefore we found it safe to land on the island and take a short trip up one of it`s flanks.
State: Repose.
Intervals between eruptions: none.
Type of activity: Continious gas emissions.
Photos: 5 available in format/size: JPG - 3888 x 2592 pixels.
See the photos
�ystein Lund Andersen � 2012
Contact: Andersen_oystein@hotmail.com
|
