August 27, 1883

On this day in history in 1883 the volcano Krakatoa erupted.

A Catastrophic Volcano

The Krakatoa eruption in 1883

Krakatoa is one of the most powerful volcano in the world. It is located on a small, uninhabited island east of Sumatra and west of Java. It is still active among the 130 active volcanoes in Indonesia, the most of any country in the world.

The volcano began erupting on August 27 with explosions that could be heard 3,000 miles away. The explosions threw earth 50 miles into the air and created 120-foot tsunamis. Although the volcano is on an uninhabited island the explosions and tsunamis killed 36,000 people. The eruption was the first from the volcano in over two hundred years. Explosions from the volcano continued for another two months after the initial eruption. The initial blast destroyed the northern two-thirds of the island.