The island of Krakatau, Indonesia (west of Java) was a small volcanic island. The volcano itself had laid dormant for over 200 years until August 1883. On May 20 one of the cones erupted violently and three months later the whole island blew up. It was the biggest explosion in recorded history. For two and a half days the island was in total darkness because of the amount of dust in the air. A cloud of ash rose 80 km into the air. The eruption caused a tidal wave which killed 36,000 people. The explosion could be heard and felt in Australia, 3,500 km away.
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Fact File: On August 24 in the year AD 79, there was a great eruption of Mount Vesuvius, a volcano in southern Italy. The lava, stones, and ashes thrown up by the volcano completely buried two nearby towns. |
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