Indonesia’s Anak Krakatoa volcano erupts, spews 3-km high column of ash
Jakarta, Jun 9 (EFE).- Indonesian volcano Anak Krakatoa, which triggered a tsunami that left more than 400 people dead in December 2018, spewed a 3-kilometer high (1.9 mile) column of ash on Friday, the authorities said.
The volcano registered a 56-second long eruption at 8:46 am, the Centre for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation said.
The alert level for the volcano was at level 3, out of a maximum of 4, it added.
Another eruption, of lower intensity about an hour earlier, sent smoke and ash to an altitude of 957 meters (3,140 feet) and lasted for more than 13 minutes.
The volcano also erupted twice on Thursday while smaller eruptions were recorded on Tuesday.
Due to the activity, the Center has recommended that people do not approach the volcano within a 5-kilometer radius.
The Anak Krakatoa volcano is located in the strait that separates the islands of Sumatra and Java and stands 157 meters above sea level.
On Dec. 22, 2018, the volcano erupted causing its flank to collapse, which generated a tsunami that caught out hundreds of people who were spending the Christmas holidays on the coasts of Java and Sumatra. The incident left 439 dead and over 14,000 injured.
Discovered in 1927, the Anak Krakatau (Child of Krakatoa) emerged from the waters more than half a century after the great eruption of the legendary Krakatoa, whose caldera collapsed in 1883 after a series of massive explosions that cost the lives of more than 36,000 people and whose effects were felt around the world.
Indonesia sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, an area of great seismic and volcanic activity that is shaken every year by some 7,000 tremors, most of them moderate. EFE
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