# Krakatoa awakens. Newslink **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 31, 2009, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/krakatoa-awakens-newslink/504915 "2009-07-31T21:11:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/krakatoa-awakens-newslink/504915/1 "2009-07-31T21:11:17Z")
The source of the greatest explosion in the history of the World…stirs from its long slumber. Article, with photos. > **[Krakatoa Reawakens, And The World Shall Tremble](https://gizmodo.com/krakatoa-reawakens-and-the-world-shall-tremble-5327021)** > > Lightning strikes near the tip of Anak Krakatoa, the "child" of the legendary volcano Krakatoa, whose eruption in 1883 killed an estimated 36,000 people. The volcano reawakened in 2007, then quieted down again... but now its fiery depths stir again. Background– > **[1883 eruption of Krakatoa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1883_eruption_of_Krakatoa)** > > The 1883 eruption of Krakatoa (Indonesian: Letusan Krakatau 1883) in the Sunda Strait occurred from 20 May until 21 October 1883, peaking in the late morning hours of 27 August when over 70% of the island of Krakatoa and its surrounding archipelago were destroyed as it collapsed into a caldera. > The eruption was one of the deadliest and most destructive volcanic events in recorded history. The explosion was heard 3,110 kilometres (1,930 mi) away in Perth, Western Australia, and Rodrigues near ... Let us hope there will be no repeats of past performances. ---
**Author:** ![DiggitCamara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@DiggitCamara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiggitCamara)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/krakatoa-awakens-newslink/504915/2 "2009-07-31T21:21:30Z")
Biggest explosion in the history of the world? Haven’t there been several explosions of supercalderas that even caused extintion-level events? ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/krakatoa-awakens-newslink/504915/3 "2009-07-31T21:24:59Z")
> [@DiggitCamara](#): > > Biggest explosion in the history of the world? Haven’t there been several explosions of supercalderas that even caused extintion-level events? Those are **pre** -History. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/krakatoa-awakens-newslink/504915/4 "2009-07-31T22:56:50Z")
But what about [Mount Tambora - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Tambora) Still interesting - hope it doesn’t awake Cthuhlu Brian ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2009, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/krakatoa-awakens-newslink/504915/5 "2009-08-01T03:11:51Z")
Well, slumber is a relative term, as there have been frequent minor eruptions there for decades. At least one of the photos in the OP’s link is actually from 2007, not more recently. Nevertheless, there does seem to have been increasing activity in the past couple of months, although not enough to make the most recent Smithsonian/USGS weekly volcanic activity report. Looks like we’re a bit short of an earth-shattering kaboom as yet. [Here’s a summary of the more significant activity](http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/volcano.cfm?vnum=0602-00=&volpage=var)at Krakatau over the past few years. ---
**Author:** ![mkecane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9e8a1a/32.png) [@mkecane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mkecane)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2009, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/krakatoa-awakens-newslink/504915/6 "2009-08-01T21:26:00Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > Article, with photos. > > [http://io9.com/5327021/krakatoa-reawakens-and-the-world-shall-tremble/gallery/](http://io9.com/5327021/krakatoa-reawakens-and-the-world-shall-tremble/gallery/) Picture #6 looks like Burning Man. Thanks for the link, for the pictures alone. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2009, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/krakatoa-awakens-newslink/504915/7 "2009-08-01T22:03:26Z")
More & better photos. > **[Will Krakatoa rock the world again? Last time, it killed thousands and...](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1203028/Will-Krakatoa-rock-world-Last-time-killed-thousands-changed-weather-years-deadlier.html)** > > Bright orange lava spews up into the air, dark smoke mingles with the clouds and the gloomy night takes on an ominous red glow. Yikes [http://news.ninemsn.com.au/img/2009/glance/krakatoa/4.jpg](http://news.ninemsn.com.au/img/2009/glance/krakatoa/4.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2009, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/krakatoa-awakens-newslink/504915/8 "2009-08-02T04:31:17Z")
Maybe people will finally realize that despite the title of that stupid 1969 movie, Krakatoa is actually _west_ of Java. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2009, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/krakatoa-awakens-newslink/504915/9 "2009-08-02T08:40:19Z")
Of course, even if Krakatoa does go pop, it’ll look like a baby’s fart compared to the giant Yellowstone kablooey that’s coming up soon… ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2009, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/krakatoa-awakens-newslink/504915/10 "2009-08-02T11:00:46Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > Of course, even if Krakatoa does go pop, it’ll look like a baby’s fart compared to the giant Yellowstone kablooey that’s coming up soon… Define “soon”. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2009, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/krakatoa-awakens-newslink/504915/11 "2009-08-02T11:04:44Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > Of course, even if Krakatoa does go pop, it’ll look like a baby’s fart compared to the giant Yellowstone kablooey that’s coming up soon… Yeah, that one’ll make the WTC attack seem like a mosquito bite. I’m comforted by the thought, however, that if it happens soon, it will cover Dick Cheney’s house in molten lava before it gets to anyone I actually know. And Cheney, as he’s being burned alive, will shout out that THIS was the attack he’d be warning us was coming, and that Obama did nothing to prevent… And now back to your regularly scheduled MPSIMS thread about Krakatoa. (I recommend Simon Winchester’s book, btw. Very compelling–a little boring and digressive at points, but full of information.) ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2009, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/krakatoa-awakens-newslink/504915/12 "2009-08-02T11:07:06Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > Define “soon”. :dubious: [wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellowstone_Caldera) > [@](#): > > The last full-scale eruption of the Yellowstone Supervolcano, the Lava Creek eruption which happened nearly 640,000 years ago, ejected approximately 240 cubic miles (1000 cubic kilometres) of rock and dust into the sky. > > Geologists are closely monitoring the rise and fall of the Yellowstone Plateau, which averages ±0.6 inches (about ±1.5 cm) yearly, as an indication of changes in magma chamber pressure. > > **The upward movement of the Yellowstone caldera floor—almost 3 inches (7 centimeters) each year for the past three years—is more than three times greater than ever observed since such measurements began in 1923.** From mid-Summer 2004 through mid-Summer 2008, the land surface within the caldera has moved upwards, as much as 8 inches at the White Lake GPS station. The U.S. Geological Survey, University of Utah and National Park Service scientists with the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory maintain that they **“see no evidence that another such cataclysmic eruption will occur at Yellowstone in the foreseeable future. Recurrence intervals of these events are neither regular nor predictable”**. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2009, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/krakatoa-awakens-newslink/504915/13 "2009-08-02T14:18:32Z")
[The Master speaks](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2834/is-yellowstone-park-sitting-on-a-supervolcano-thats-about-to-blow). **“Yellowstone’s cousins are worth watching. The last supereruption at the Long Valley caldera in eastern California was 760,000 years ago. Another would be devastating, but as at Yellowstone, major cities are distant enough to avoid being completely buried. Elsewhere, some giant calderas are frightfully close to urban areas. Lake Taal in the Philippines is only 40 miles from Manila. In Italy the rim of Campi Flegrei lies only five miles from central Naples. The last near-supereruption there came 35,000 years ago; a much smaller one killed 24 in 1538. Pizza napoletana on my next Italian tour? Sure. But make mine to go.”** ---
**Author:** ![mack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mack)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2009, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/krakatoa-awakens-newslink/504915/14 "2009-08-02T15:10:19Z")
Awesome pictures. A geological question: doesn’t that eruption seem more healthy and mellow (relatively speaking) and less like a ‘blow the mountain into the stratosphere’ type cataclysm? ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2009, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/krakatoa-awakens-newslink/504915/15 "2009-08-02T15:48:16Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > Define “soon”. :dubious: “Soon” geologically. Although as the links above indicate, the land does seem to have filled out a little recently. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/krakatoa-awakens-newslink/504915/16 "2009-08-03T01:15:02Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Maybe people will finally realize that despite the title of that stupid 1969 movie, Krakatoa is actually _west_ of Java. I knew once they moved the Volcano from east of, to west of Java all the trouble would start. 🙂 Didn’t Jerry donate money to Kramers “Save the Kratatoans” or some charity like that to impress Elaine and the charity was a scam… …And now back to your regularly scheduled thread. ---
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/krakatoa-awakens-newslink/504915/17 "2009-08-03T04:08:17Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > Well, slumber is a relative term, as there have been frequent minor eruptions there for decades. At least one of the photos in the OP’s link is actually from 2007, not more recently. Nevertheless, there does seem to have been increasing activity in the past couple of months, although not enough to make the most recent Smithsonian/USGS weekly volcanic activity report. Looks like we’re a bit short of an earth-shattering kaboom as yet. > > [Here’s a summary of the more significant activity](http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/volcano.cfm?vnum=0602-00=&volpage=var)at Krakatau over the past few years. While back packing through South East Asia In the mid seventies, I took a ship from Sumatra to Jakarta in Indonesia. The ship passed fairly close to Krakatoa. It was smoking pretty good. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/krakatoa-awakens-newslink/504915/18 "2009-08-03T04:59:04Z")
> [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > I’m comforted by the thought… You have thoughts? How _uncomforting._ So, I’m guessing you don’t care for Mr. Cheney? Just a guess. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/krakatoa-awakens-newslink/504915/19 "2009-08-03T14:13:05Z")
> [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > I’m comforted by the thought, however, that if it happens soon, it will cover Dick Cheney’s house in molten lava before it gets to anyone I actually know. > [@Gatopescado](#): > > You have thoughts? How _uncomforting._ [moderating] Let’s not turn this thread into either politics _or_ personal insults, okay? No warnings issued, but please take this elsewhere. [/moderating] ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2009, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/krakatoa-awakens-newslink/504915/20 "2009-08-03T14:56:26Z")
I strongly recommend Simon Winchester’s [**Krakatoa, the day the earth exploded**](http://www.simonwinchester.com/books/) - as well as just about everything else he has written. Very well written and goes into depth on everything related to Krakatoa, from the spice trade, to plate techtonics, and more. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/krakatoa-awakens-newslink/504915.md?page=2)