The infamous volcano that caused a devastating tsunami in 2018 is once again beginning to rumble to life.
Anak Krakatau, a volcanic island in Indonesia, experienced a cataclysmic eruption in 1883 that destroyed the island of Krakatoa and created the caldera—a large depression formed when a volcano erupts and collapses—that can seen today. It was one of the most destructive eruptions ever recorded.
An eruption of the volcano on December 22, 2018, caused a tsunami that devastated the surrounding regions of Banten and Lampung. Over 400 people are thought to have died, with thousands more injured.
Eruptions and tsunamis can be incredibly hard to predict, however previous reports noted that Indonesia’s early warning system was not operational at the time of the 2018 disaster because of a lack of funds and technical faults.
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Now, the volcano is once again beginning to stir. It began to erupt on November 26 and has since started spewing lava.
On November 27, it produced a huge ash plume that rose over 7,000 feet above sea level.
“The lava is starting to come out, the eruption column has reached a height of between 1,000-2,000 meters (3,280-6,560 feet),” Mirzam Abdurrachman, a volcanologist from the Bandung Institute of Technology, told local news outlet Tempo.
The good news is that this type of activity is quite natural for this volcano. It is extremely active and erupts frequently, although its has been particularly active this year, erupting 87 times since January, according to newspaper the Malaysian Reserve.
Despite a huge eruption being rare, the devastation of 2018 is not easily forgotten by locals and the 1883 eruption caused more than 36,000 deaths.
It was so intense it had a significant impact on the world’s climate, causing global average temperatures to fall by 2.2 degrees Fahrenheit.
The current eruption is being monitored closely by volcanologists and the alert status for the volcano has been raised to level III by the Volcanological Survey of Indonesia.
Some hazardous volcanoes are understudied
Volcanoes all over the world are closely watched by scientists to ensure they are prepared for any dangerous eruptions. New research is being released all the time into the way eruptions are predicted.
However a new study, released in November in Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems found that some high threat volcanoes based in the U.S. are seriously understudied.
There are 11 volcanoes along what is known as the Cascade Volcanic Arc in western North America that are considered by the U.S. Geological Survey as “very high threat.” A high threat volcano is one that has the potential to pose destruction to people and buildings.
Despite the risk, scientists have very little data on where their magma is stored. This is knowledge that could help efforts to predict hazardous eruptions, yet it remains a mystery.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.