After Collapse, It Grows Again

GARISBUMI.com – Anak Krakatau's body shrank from around 338 meters to 110 meters after the 2018 collapse. However, the mountain did not die. From the crater that opened into the sea, volcanic material rebuilt its body.

The shape of Anak Krakatau is no longer the same after the night of December 22 2018.

The cone that had grown for decades in the middle of the Sunda Strait lost most of its body. The peak, which previously reached around 338 meters above sea level, only remains around 110 meters.

The crater opens towards the sea.

From a distance, the mountain looked like it had been cut. The once towering part was lost with a landslide that triggered a tsunami to the coast of Banten and Lampung.

However, collapse does not mean completion.

Not even two weeks after the disaster, Anak Krakatau erupted again. On January 4, 2019, a column of ash rose about 1,500 meters above the peak. The mountain still has Level III or Alert status.

The eruption at that time was different from the activity before the collapse. Sea water can enter the crater and meet hot material. The meeting of water and magma produces an eruption that carries steam, ash and volcanic material.

For officers, observing Anak Krakatau is a more complicated job. Seismometers on the island were damaged due to activities on December 22 2018. Monitoring equipment must be reinstalled on surrounding islands while waiting for weather and mountain conditions to permit.

Observations were made from the Pasauran Post in Banten and the Hargo Pancuran Post in Lampung. Cameras, seismographs, satellites and various other devices become the eyes and ears to follow mountain changes from a distance.