Indonesia’s Anak Krakatau volcano spews ash, lava in new eruption

It was the longest eruption since the explosive collapse of the mountain caused a deadly tsunami in 2018 along the coasts of Java and Sumatra, the centre said.

There were no casualties reported in the latest eruption and no evacuation order was issued. The nearest settlement is 16 1/2 kilometres away.

The centre’s closed-circuit camera showed lava flares and the volcano continuously erupting until Saturday morning.

The second-highest alert on a scale of four has remained in place since 2018. Authorities in May warned residents and tourists to stay 5 kilometres from the crater. Up till then, people used to trek to the top to observe the nature’s spectacle.

Scientists at the centre said that since the 2018 eruption and collapse, Anak Krakatau island is now only about a quarter of its original size.

A 2019 study by the centre shed light on the power of the tsunami that crashed into more than 300 kilometres of coastline in Sumatra and Java. More than 430 people died in the waves that were 2 metres or higher and 40,000 were displaced.

The centre said that the peak of the crater was 159 metres high, compared to 338 metres before the December 2018 eruption.

Anak Krakatau, which means “child of Kratakau,” is the offspring of the famous Krakatau, whose monumental eruption in 1883 triggered a period of global cooling.