'Child of Krakatoa' Volcano Spews Ash
Pastor Dale Morgan
'Child of Krakatoa' Volcano Spews Ash*
The Associated Press
Saturday, October 27, 2007; 3:00 PM
JAKARTA, Indonesia -- The Indonesian volcano known as the "Child of
Krakatoa" spewed ash and smoke, prompting warnings of a possible
eruption, a government volcanologist said Saturday.
The mountain in the Sunda Strait, 80 miles west of Jakarta, formed after
the giant Krakatoa eruption of 1883 that killed tens of thousands of
people and was the largest explosion in recorded history.
"Activity at Anak Krakatoa increased yesterday and there were several
small eruptions," said Surono, a leading government volcanologist who,
like many Indonesians, uses one name. "We have upgraded the alert level
to the second highest."
Anak Krakatoa, which means "Child of Krakatoa," is the third volcano to
become active in recent weeks in Indonesia, a sprawling nation of more
than 17,000 islands. The country has about 150 volcanos along an arc of
fault lines called the Pacific "Ring of Fire."
Krakatoa's massive 1883 blast, heard nearly 2,000 miles away in
Australia, sent pyroclastic surges of gas and burning ash which,
combined with a tsunami, wiped out 165 villages and killed at least
36,417 people. It destroyed two thirds of the island of Krakatoa between
Java and Sumatra.