Tsunami volcano now a third its original height

PANDEGLANG: The Indonesian volcano which caused a tsunami that killed more than 400 people last week lost more than two-thirds of its height following the eruption which triggered the killer waves.

A section of Anak Krakatoa’s crater collapsed after an eruption and slid into the ocean, generating the tsunami a week ago. A visual analysis by the Indonesian volcanology agency found the volcano has lost more than two-thirds of its height, an official said Saturday.

The height of the more than 90-year-old volcano has been reduced to about 110 meters from 338 meters after eruptions intensified in the past week, according to the Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation. The agency estimated the volcano lost between 150 and 180 million cubic metres of material as massive amounts of rock and ash have been slowly sliding into the sea following the eruptions.

The shrinking of the volcano in height and size reduces the risk of another landslide leading to a tsunami, Antonius Ratdomopurbo, secretary of Indonesian energy ministry’s geology agency, said on Saturday.

“With Anak Krakatau’s small body volume at present, it will be unlikely for us to see a big landslide that can trigger a tsunami,” he said. “A tsunami could only happen if there’s a fault reactivation in the Sunda Strait.”

Before and after satellite images taken by Japan’s space agency showed that a two square kilometre chunk of the volcanic island had collapsed into the water.