Thursday, July 30, 2009

Some magnificent photography!


The volcano of Krakatoa in Indonesia, which erupted in such devastating fashion back in 1883, killing an estimated 35,000 people around the world, is doing it again. The Daily Mail reports:

The ticking time-bomb can be seen spewing ash into the Indonesian sky between Java and Sumatra where it lies on the Sunda Strait.

Lava can also be seen trickling down the side of the new slopes that have quickly grown to a towering 360 metres. It now measures half of the size of the original mound that ended so many lives.




Marco said: 'These volcanos repeat explosions like that of 1883 many times during their life. The common opinion is that Krakatoa will become again really dangerous when it reaches the size it had been in 1883. It was two-times taller than now.'

Simmering Anak Krakatoa - translated as 'Child of Krakatoa' - is the offspring of the original giant cone which snuffed out over 36,000 lives in a single super-eruption over 100 years ago.

In an ongoing saga Anak Krakatoa is a new volcano that is emerging from the remains of the former giant beast which blew itself apart.




The colossal 19th century disaster is so renowned it has featured in movies and is regarded by many as the most famous on earth.

The explosion was so devastating it equalled 13,000 times the power of Little Boy - the American A-bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, in World War II.


There's more at the link, including some absolutely spectacular photographs (in much larger versions than those on this blog). It's well worth your time to click over there to look at them. For all its danger, the volcano is strangely beautiful.

Peter

4 comments:

  1. The other volcanoes in that chain are dangerous too. "Breakalega", "Sprainafoota" and "Owmyballsa".

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  2. I'm now curious what effect the eruption had on weather patterns.
    I'm also curious how it will be found to be George Bush's fault when it blows up.

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  3. IIRC, a volcano in that same region caused a Tsuami not too many years ago with a large death toll.

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  4. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15448607

    Check that out, makes Krakatoa look like a firecracker. Had some interesting effects too, for those interested in Mormon history.

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