Earth

Indonesia’s Anak Krakatau volcano is erupting

Anak Krakatau (Child of Krakatau) volcano in the Indonesian province of Lampung erupted on Friday, April 10, 2020. This volcano is an island between the islands of Java and Sumatra in Indonesia. It emerged from a caldera left by the explosive volcanic eruption that destroyed the island of Krakatoa in 1883. The word “Anak” means “child” in Indonesian. According to a story in the Jakarta Post, Anak Krakatau was seen on April 10:

… spewing out a 200-meter-high [650-foot-high] column of ash and smoke.

The Center for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation’s (PVMBG) magma volcanic activity report said that the first eruption lasted one minute and 12 seconds starting at 9:58 p.m., when it spewed out ash and smoke 200 meters [about 650 feet] high.

The volcanology center reported a second eruption at 10:35 p.m. that lasted for 38 minutes and 4 seconds, spewing out a 500-meter-high [1,600-foot-high] column of ash that blew to the north.

Read more from the Jakarta Post: Anak Krakatau erupts, loud rumble heard in virus-stricken Greater Jakarta

Anak Krakatau is located in Indonesia. Visit MAGMA Indonesia for an interactive version of this map. Map via Devy Kamil Syahbana on Twitter/ MAGMA Indonesia.

Overnight, Twitter began buzzing with updates on the volcano, which was reported by Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysical Agency (@infoBMKG on Twitter):

The tweet above may be translated:

… there was an eruption of G. Anak Krakatau, Lampung, on Friday, April 10, 2020, at 21:58 West Indonesia Time and 22:35 West Indonesia Time.

Geophysicist Mika McKinnon (@mikamckinnon on Twitter) provides some good background info on the eruption in the following tweet threads. Check McKinnon’s Twitter feed for updates. By the way, the image just below – which was widely circulated on Twitter – is not from last night’s eruption; that video was taken in 2018.

Volcanologist Jess Phoenix (@jessphoenix2018 on Twitter) said that the April 10, 2020, eruption of Anak Krakatau represents the most activity seen from this volcano since 2018. She also pointed out that this eruption is a perfectly normal occurrence. Check Phoenix’s Twitter feed for updates, too.

Volcanologist Devy Kamil Syahbana (@volcanohawk on Twitter) in Indonesia provided more images.

And here is more:

Bottom line: Anak Krakatau – in English, Child of Krakatau – began erupting on April 10, 2020. The eruption is not thought to be major. Webcams caught its beauty.

Read more from the New Zealand Herald: Krakatoa volcano Anak Krakatau erupts in Indonesia

Read more from Bloomberg: Indonesia’s Anak Krakatau Volcano Has Longest Eruption Since 2018

Posted 
April 11, 2020
 in 
Earth

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