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N0KFQ > TODAY 27.08.14 17:15l 55 Lines 2390 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 34536_N0KFQ
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Subj: Today in History - Aug 27
Path: IW8PGT<IZ3LSV<IR1UAW<IQ5KG<I0OJJ<N6RME<N0KFQ
Sent: 140827/1515Z 34536@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA BPQK1.4.60
Aug 27, 1883:
Krakatau explodes
The most powerful volcanic eruption in recorded history occurs on
Krakatau (also called Krakatoa), a small, uninhabited volcanic
island located west of Sumatra in Indonesia, on this day in 1883.
Heard 3,000 miles away, the explosions threw five cubic miles of
earth 50 miles into the air, created 120-foot tsunamis and killed
36,000 people.
Krakatau exhibited its first stirrings in more than 200 years on
May 20, 1883. A German warship passing by reported a seven-mile
high cloud of ash and dust over Krakatau. For the next two
months, similar explosions would be witnessed by commercial
liners and natives on nearby Java and Sumatra. With little to no
idea of the impending catastrophe, the local inhabitants greeted
the volcanic activity with festive excitement.
On August 26 and August 27, excitement turned to horror as
Krakatau literally blew itself apart, setting off a chain of
natural disasters that would be felt around the world for years
to come. An enormous blast on the afternoon of August 26
destroyed the northern two-thirds of the island; as it plunged
into the Sunda Strait, between the Java Sea and Indian Ocean, the
gushing mountain generated a series of pyroclastic flows
(fast-moving fluid bodies of molten gas, ash and rock) and
monstrous tsunamis that swept over nearby coastlines. Four more
eruptions beginning at 5:30 a.m. the following day proved
cataclysmic. The explosions could be heard as far as 3,000 miles
away, and ash was propelled to a height of 50 miles. Fine dust
from the explosion drifted around the earth, causing spectacular
sunsets and forming an atmospheric veil that lowered temperatures
worldwide by several degrees.
Of the estimated 36,000 deaths resulting from the eruption, at
least 31,000 were caused by the tsunamis created when much of the
island fell into the water. The greatest of these waves measured
120 feet high, and washed over nearby islands, stripping away
vegetation and carrying people out to sea. Another 4,500 people
were scorched to death from the pyroclastic flows that rolled
over the sea, stretching as far as 40 miles, according to some
sources.
In addition to Krakatau, which is still active, Indonesia has
another 130 active volcanoes, the most of any country in the
world.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
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