Chapter 4:

Krakatoa

The next famous eruption that we’re going to look at has some things in common with Pompeii, some with Santorini and some with neither.

In May, 1883, a little more than one hundred years ago—as opposed to thousands of years ago— the volcano Krakatoa, in Indonesia, started smoking. There were a series of small earthquakes felt on the inhabited Island of Java nearby. Earthquakes are common in the region, although no one knew why at the time. People even thought that small volcanic eruptions were not something to worry about. The author, Simon Winchester, makes the interesting observation that the recent invention of the telegraph meant that this was the first volcanic eruption to be reported around the globe as it happened. There were many reports of small tremors and smoke that were made by captains of trade boats sailing in the area.

Much like Santorini, Krakatoa is a little group of islands that surround a caldera. The uninhabited islands of Krakatoa sit in a small body of water between the island of Java and the island of Sumatra in Indonesia. The water way is called the “Sunda Straight”.