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( Krakatoa)
Krakatoa (Indonesian Krakatau), also spelled Krakatao, is a volcanic island in the Sunda Strait between the islands of Java and Sumatra in Indonesia. The name is used for the island group, the main island (also called Rakata), and the volcano as a whole. Its best known eruption culminated in a series of massive explosions on August 26–27, 1883, which was among the most violent volcanic events in modern times. With a Volcanic Explosivity Index of 6[2], it was equivalent to 200 megatons of TNT — about 13,000 times the yield of the Little Boy bomb (13 to 16&_160;KT) that devastated Hiroshima, Japan, and four times the yield of the Tsar Bomba (50 MT), the largest nuclear weapon ever built. The 1883 eruption ejected approximately 21 cubic kilometres of rock, ash, and pumice,[3] and generated the loudest sound historically reported the cataclysmic explosion was distinctly heard as far away as Perth in Australia approx. 1,930&_160;miles (3,110&_160;km), and the island of Rodrigues near Mauritius approx. 3,000&_160;miles (5,000&_160;km) distant. Near Krakatoa, according to official records, 165 villages and towns were destroyed and 132 seriously damaged, at least 36,417 (official toll) people died, and many thousands were injured by the eruption, mostly from the tsunamis that followed the explosion. The eruption destroyed two-thirds of the island of Krakatoa. Eruptions at the volcano since 1927 have built a new island in the same location, named Anak Krakatau (Indonesian "child of Krakatoa"). This island currently has a radius of roughly 2&_160;kilometers and a high point around 200&_160;meters above sea level. [1] Although there are earlier descriptions of an island in the Sunda Strait with a "pointed mountain", the earliest mention of Krakatau by name in the Western world was on a 1611 map by Lucas Janszoon Waghenaer, who labeled the island "Pulo Carcata". ("Pulo" is a form of pulau, the Indonesian word for "island".) About two dozen variants have been found, including 'Crackatouw', 'Cracatoa', and 'Krakatao' (in an older Portuguese-based spelling). The first known appearance of the spelling 'Krakatau' was by Wouter Shouten, who passed by "the high tree-covered island of Krakatau" in October 1658.
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