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The
Great Tsunami of August 26, 1883 from the Explosion of the Krakatau
Volcano ("Krakatoa") in Indonesia
George Pararas-Carayannis
(Excerpts
from "Some of the World's Greatest Disasters", a book
under preparation.)
Copyright © 1997 George Pararas-Carayannis
/ all rights reserved
Selected
by the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA)
 
Introduction
The paroxysmal explosion
and collapse of the volcano of Krakatoa generated formidable
tsunami waves that were up to 37 m (120 feet) in height. These
waves destroyed 295 towns and villages in the Sunda Strait in
Western Java and Southern Sumatra. A total of 36,417 people were
drowned. The tsunami, being of volcanic origin (a point source)
was only destructive locally in Indonesia. However, small tsunami
waves were recorded throughout the Pacific.
Tsunami
Waves Generated by the Explosion of the Krakatau (Krakatoa) Volcano
Undoubtedly, the atmospheric
pressure waves from the three gigantic eruptions of Krakatoa
on August 26 and 27, 1983, which proceeded the fourth paroxysmal
explosion, gave rise to tsunami like waves. The first of these
three proceeding violent explosions occurred at 17: 07 Greenwich
time (GMT) on August 26, 1883. The second and third violent eruptions
occurred at 05:30 GMT and at 06:44 GMT on August 27, 1883. Being
of atmospheric origin and small in size, none of these earlier
tsunami like waves were noticed or reported. At the time, the
only operating tide gauge in Batavia (Jakarta) was too far away
to record these smaller sea level oscillations.
 It was the fourth paroxysmal
explosion of Krakatoa at 10:02 (GMT) that gave rise to the gigantic
destructive tsunami waves in the Sunda Strait. This paroxysmal
explosion blew away the northern two-thirds of the island and
it was almost instantaneously followed by the collapse of the
unsupported volcanic chambers which formed the huge underwater
caldera. It was the combined effects of the explosion and collapse
of the volcano that generated the catastrophic tsunami waves
that caused havoc and destruction in the Sunda Strait.
The huge tsunami waves
destroyed all the coastal towns and villages on the Sunda Strait,
within an hour or two after the explosion and collapse of the
volcano . The waves were so powerful that coral blocks weighing
as much as 600 tons were thrown ashore. A warship in the area
was carried 3 km. inland by the waves and was deposited at a
10 meter elevation above sea level. The huge tsunami was well
documented in terms of visual observations of heights reached
along the coasts of Java and Sumatra as well from a recording
at a tide gauge at Batavia (Jakarta).
Many of the names of
the towns and villages of this region given here were taken from
older accounts. These names have changed since the departure
of the Dutch from Indonesia. For example Batavia, has been replaced
by Jakarta.
The following is a short
description of tsunami heights and travel times at the islands
of Java and Sumatra in Indonesia.
Island of
Sumatra
The tsunami travel
time to the closest villages of Sumatra was about 1 hour after
the explosion of Krakatoa. At Telok Batong, tsunami waves up
to 22 meters completely submerged the village. At Vlakke Hook
the maximum tsunami wave height was 15 meters.
Photo of the volcano
of Krakatau taken in 1883 before the major eruption
Island of
Java
Also, tsunami waves
reached the Western coast of Java within an hour after the explosion
of Krakatoa. The village of Sirik was almost entirely swept away
by these waves. It took also about one hour for the destructive
tsunami waves to reach Anjer where a 10 meter wave completely
overwhelmed the lower part of town. At Tyringen, waves ranged
from 15 - 20 meters in height, while at Merak, the waves reached
a maximum of 35 meters.
It took approximately
2.5 hours for the tsunami waves to refract around the western
end of the island of Java and to reach Batavia (Jakarta), the
capital of Indonesia on. Waves of 2.4 meters, were reported there
with a very long period period of 122 minutes. By the time the
tsunami reached Surabaya, at the eastern part of Java, the reported
wave was only 0.2 meters. The tsunami travel time to Surabaya
was 11.9 hours.
 Krakatau's Tsunami
Waves Recorded at Distant Places
Small sea level oscillations
from Krakatoa's explosion were recorded by tide gauges as far
away as Hawaii, the American West Coast, South America, and even
as far away as the English Channel, in France and England. It
took 12 hours for the tsunami from Krakatoa's explosion to reach
Aden on the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula, some 3800
nautical miles away. The wave reported at Aden probably represents
the one generated in the Sunda Strait. The travel time of a little
over 300 nautical miles per hour to Aden appears reasonable.
There were no land boundaries on the Indian Ocean side of Krakatoa
to prevent the tsunami energy from spreading in that direction.
However, it is doubtful that the waves which were reported at
distant locations in the Pacific or in the Atlantic Ocean represented
the actual tsunami generated in the Sunda Strait. Very little,
if any at all, of this energy could have escaped the surrounding
inland seas to the east of the Sunda Strait. Most probably, the
small waves that were observed in the Pacific as well as in the
Atlantic, were generated by the atmospheric pressure waves which
resulted from the major Krakatoa explosion, and not from the
actual tsunami generated in the Sunda Strait.
Anak Krakatau (Son
of Krakatoa) at the present time.
JAPAN: In Japan a small sea level oscillation
was recorded at Honshu-Sagami and at Shikoku-Satsuma.
AUSTRALIA: In Australia, a trace of the
tsunami was recorded. It was less than 0.1 meter.
In New Zealand a 0.3
meter change in water level was reported.
HAWAII: A small oscillation of only
0.24 meters was recorded by the Honolulu tide gauge on the island
of Oahu, 17 hours after the explosion of Krakatoa.
ALASKA: In Alaska's Kodiak Island a
small oscillation of 0.1 meter was recorded .
CALIFORNIA: In San Fransciso, California,
a 0.1 meter sea level oscillation was recorded 20 hours after
the explosion.
Krakatau's
Volcanic Tsunami Source Mechanism
 Paroxysmal volcanic explosions,
such as the August 26, 1983 of Krakatoa are referred to as "hydromagmatic"
or "phreatomagmatic" . According to this mechanism
of generation, following the earlier eruptions, cold seawater
entered the magmatic chambers of Krakatoa when its walls begun
to rupture in its weakened base. Super heated steam built tremendous
pressure which, in turn, resulted in the large explosion of the
volcano. Following the explosion, the unsupported remainder of
Krakatoa collapsed into the empty magmatic cavities underneath,
creating a large depression, or submerged caldera in the sea
(see diagram). 
Into this newly formed
cavity rushed several cubic miles of seawater, filling it rapidly
and creating waves that, near the center, probably reached heights
of several hundred feet.
Graphics of Krkatau
before and after the paroxysmal explosion and caldera collapse
Then, just as quickly
as the water had rushed into this newly formed caldera, huge
tsunami waves rushed out like a gigantic bore. These waves radiated
out in all directions across the Sunda Strait. The speed of the
waves was limited by the relatively shallow depth of the sea
in the area. Thus, it took almost an hour after the explosion
for the destructive waves to reach Java and Sumatra. These waves
destroyed most of the coastal settlements in the Sunda Strait
Undoubtedly, submarine landslides and the atmospheric shock waves
from the explosion generated additional tsunami waves in the
area.
SEE ALSO:
NEAR
AND FAR-FIELD EFFECTS OF TSUNAMIS GENERATED BY THE PAROXYSMAL
ERUPTIONS, EXPLOSIONS, CALDERA COLLAPSES AND MASSIVE SLOPE FAILURES
OF THE KRAKATAU VOLCANO IN INDONESIA ON AUGUST 26-27, 1883
The
Krakatoa Volcano is an exciting sight to
see, and you can find plenty of Indonesia
hotels that offer tour packages to
the island. Though beware of seemingly cheap
hotels that are too close to the island - the luxury
hotels stay far away from the volcano!.......... this
is a third
party message.
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REFERENCES
IIDA, K., D.C. Cox,
and Pararas--Carayannis, George, 1967.
Preliminary Catalog
of Tsunamis Occurring in the Pacific Ocean. Data Report No. 5. Honolulu: Hawaii Inst.Geophys.Aug.
1967.
Pararas-Carayannis,
George, 1973. The Waves That Destroyed the Minoan Empire. Sea Frontiers, Vol 19, No. 2,
p. 94, March-April, 1973.
Pararas-Carayannis,
George, 1974 The Destruction of the Minoan Civilization. Encyclopaedia Grollier, Science
Supplement, pp 314-321, 1974
Pararas-Carayannis,
George, 1983. Tsunami Effects of the Krakatau Eruption . Based
on review for the Smithsonian Institution's book Krakatau 1883: The volcanic eruption
and its effects:
by Simkin, T., and Fiske, R.S., 1983
Smithsonian Institution
Press: Washington, D.C., 464 p.
ADDITIONAL
BIBLIOGRAPHY ON KRAKATAU - In Chronological Order
Anon., 1883, On
the Tsunami of Aug. 27, 1883,
Daily Bulletin, Honolulu, Aug. 29, 1883.
Fuchs, C. W. C. 1884
Report on the volcanic
events of the year 1877 -83
[German], (Tschermaks) Mneratogische und Petrographische Mitteinluengen,
Vienna, n.s.v. 1, (pub. 1878), p. 106-136; year 1878 (pub. 1879),
n.s.v. 2, p. 97-125; year 1883 (pub. 1883), n.s.v. 5, p. 339-381;
year 1884 (pub. 1884), n.s.v. 6, p. 185-231.
Verbeck, R. D. M.,1884. Krakatoa
[French], Parts I & II, Batavia, p. 396-461 [Not seen, cited
by Montessus de Ballore, 1907;
Warton, W. J. L. ,
and F. j. Evans , 1888, On
the seismic sea waves caused by the eruption at Krakatoa, August
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Subsequent Phenomena, G. L. Symonds [ed.], Rept. of the Krakatoa
Comm. of the Roy. Soc., p. 89-151.
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Sapper, K.T., 1927,
Volcanology [German], J. Engelhorn, Stuttgart,
424 pp.
Wilson, R.M 1928, A
year of the tide gauge operation, Monthly Bull., Hawaiian Volc.
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Heck, N.H.,1947, List
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Bull.. Seismol. Soc. Am., v. 37, no. 4, p. 269-284.
Imamura, A., 1949
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chronology [Japanese],
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Shepard, F.P., G.A.
Macdonald and D.C. Cox, 1950. The
tsunami of April 1, 1946, Bull.
Scripps Inst. Oceanog., v. 5, no. 6, p. 391-528.
Ewing M. and F. Press,
1955. Tide gauge
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36, no. 1, p. 53-60.
Iida, K .,1956. Earthquakes accompanied by tsunamis
occurring under the sea off the islands of Japan, J. Earth Sci., v. 4, no. l,
p. 1-43.
Svyatlowski, A.E.,
1957. Tsunamis--destructive waves originating with
underwater earthquakes in seas and oceans [Russian], Izdatel'stvo
Akad. Nauk SSSR, p. 1-69, Eng. transl. by V. Stevenson, Hawaii
Inst. Geophys., Transl. Ser. 8, 1961.
Kawasumi, H. [ed.
J), 1963., List of
great earthquakes in and near Japan; list of great earthquakes
in China; and list of great earthquakes of the world [Japanese], Ghigaku [Earth Sciences]
in Rika-Nempyo [Nat. Sci. Almanac, Haruzen, Tokyo. p. 154-225.
Furneaux, Rupert.,1964. Krakatoa
Iida, K., D.C. Cox,
and G. Pararas-Carayannis, 1967b.
Bibliography to the
Preliminary Catalog of Tsunamis Occurring in the Pacific Ocean, Hawaii Inst. Geophys. Data Rpt.
6, HIG-67-25, Univ. of Hawaii, 27 pp.
Sea Frontiers, 1971 "Krakatoa-The
Killer Wave,",
Vol 17, No 3, May June
Nuhfer, E.B., Proctor,
R.J., and Moser, P.H., 1993, The
citizen's guide to geologic hazards: American Institute of Professional Geologists,
Arvada, CO, 134 p.
N Nomanbhoy and K
Satake, Numerical Computation of Tsunamis From the 1883
Krakatau Eruption (Geological
Sciences, Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109; 313-763-4069)
Simkin, T., and Fiske,
R.S., 1983, Krakatau 1883: The volcanic eruption and its
effects: Smithsonian
Institution Press: Washington, D.C., 464 p.
Whitney, James A.,
1992, Volcano.
Grolier Electronic Publisher, Inc..
Simkin, T., and Siebert,
L., 1994, Volcanoes of the world: Geoscience Press, Tucson, Arizona, 349 p
Bulletin of the Global
Volcanism Network, 1995, Krakatau
Volcanoes: W.H. Freeman, New York, 285
p
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