Indonesia's Krakatau Volcano roars and dazzles with fireworks
Pastor Dale Morgan
Indonesia's Krakatau Volcano roars and dazzles with fireworks*
By Supriyatin
Reuters
Sunday, November 11, 2007; 3:39 AM
SUNDA STRAIT, Indonesia (Reuters) - Indonesia's Anak Krakatau volcano
lets out a massive roar as it blasts a gigantic cloud of smoke and
flaming red rocks hundreds of meters into the night sky.
A few hours later, a river of lava and stones glowing like embers glide
down the slopes of Mount Anak Krakatau as the muted light of the rising
sun tries to break through thick clouds settled above the mountain.
The volcano, whose name means "Child of Krakatau," formed in the Sunda
Strait close to Java island after Mount Krakatau's legendary eruption in
1883. It rumbled to life about two weeks ago and since then has been
dazzling scientists and visitors with its amazing pyrotechnics.
Scientists monitoring the volcano say Anak Krakatau is not especially
dangerous and will continue to rumble for some time, but warn people to
stay out of a 1.9 miles zone around the mountain.
"We are a little worried sometimes when we heard the big boom and we see
rocks that fall from, I don't know, half kilometer from the hole," Chad
Bouchard, one of a group of eight tourists who spent the night in a boat
in the ocean to watch the volcano.
"Sometimes we see the splash inside the ocean. That's a little scary but
no, I think it might be stupid but I feel safe."
DEVASTATING DISASTER
Anak Krakatau, which lies 26 miles from the nearest observation post in
Serang on the westernmost edge of Java, gradually formed after the
volcanic island of Krakatau blew up in a massive eruption in 1883,
triggering tsunamis and killing more than 36,000 people.
Ashes from that eruption, one of the most devastating natural disasters
in recorded history, were carried by upper level winds as far away as
New York City.
Krakatau, one of dozens of volcanoes in the sprawling Indonesian
archipelago, last erupted in 1988, but its eruptions have never
approached the ferocity of its parent.
Child of Krakatau is one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the Pacific
"Ring of Fire," but authorities have not yet raised the alert level to
the highest which would require the evacuation of people around the volcano.
A vulcanologist monitoring Anak Krakatau said the volcano was likely to
rumble and roar for some time.
"It is still at the third level of alert. It is safe and there aren't
any problems. There were approximately one hundred explosions
yesterday," Saut Simatupang, head of volcano observation in Bandung,
told Reuters.
"If the energy is the same as this, it is more likely it will stay at
this level for quite some time as the tremors are frequent. Today only,
there have been one hundred."
Visitors who had their morning coffee in a boat in the shadow of the
volcano in the Sunda Strait's choppy waters about a one-and-a-half-hour
ride from the mainland said they felt safe.
"It's spectacular, it's just amazing to be here," said Patricia
Anderton, a tourist from New Haven in the United states.
"I feel incredibly lucky to be able to see it."
(Additional reporting by Ade Mardiyati in Jakarta, Writing by Sugita Kaytal)