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Indonesia's Krakatau Roars and Dazzles With Fireworks

Sypriyatin - Reuters

Photo Gallery: 'Child of Krakatau'

Ed Wray, AP

Indonesia's Anak Krakatau -- or "Child of Krakatau," volcano is shown erupting Thursday, sending up clouds of hot gasses, rocks and lava.

Ed Wray, AP

There have been no deaths associated with the eruptions that began earlier this month, but thousands of villagers have been evacuated from the area.

Reuters

Anak Krakatau sends up an ash cloud on Saturday.

Reuters

"It is still at the third level of alert. It is safe and there aren't any problems," said Saut Simatupang, head of volcano observation in Bandung.

Reuters

"It's spectacular, it's just amazing to be here," said Patricia Anderton, a tourist from New Haven, Conn.

Hirz / Getty Images

Anak Krakatau rose from the sea decades ago. Here is a late 1920s view of a mostly underwater volcanic eruption that led to its birth. Source: AP

1 of 11 (Photo Gallery at: news.aol.com/story/_a/indonesian-volcano-blasts-back-to-life/20071109094609990001

A few hours later, a river of lava and stones glowing like embers glide down the slopes of Mount Anak Krakatau as the muted light of the rising sun tries to break through thick clouds settled above the mountain.

The volcano, whose name means "Child of Krakatau," formed in the Sunda Strait close to Java island after Mount Krakatau's legendary eruption in 1883. It rumbled to life about two weeks ago and since then has been dazzling scientists and visitors with its amazing pyrotechnics.

Scientists monitoring the volcano say Anak Krakatau is not especially dangerous and will continue to rumble for some time, but warn people to stay out of a 1.9 miles zone around the mountain.

"We are a little worried sometimes when we heard the big boom and we see rocks that fall from, I don't know, half kilometer from the hole," Chad Bouchard, one of a group of eight tourists who spent the night in a boat in the ocean to watch the volcano.

"Sometimes we see the splash inside the ocean. That's a little scary but no, I think it might be stupid but I feel safe."

Photo Gallery: Most Dangerous Volcanoes in America

Bob Galbraith, AP

5. Mount Shasta: Located in Northern California, Mount Shasta last erupted in 1786. It has attracted a following of worshipers who believe it has special powers of healing.

4. Mount Hood: In the past 15,000 years, Mount Hood, the highest peak in Oregon, has had at least four major periods of eruptions.

Getty Images

3. Mount Ranier: Located 50 miles southeast of Seattle, the highest peak in the Cascade Range rises to 14,410 feet. Volcanoes in this region erupt less frequently than those in Hawaii, but are much more violent when they do blow

Roger Werth, Longview Daily News / AP

2. Mount St. Helens: The deadliest eruption in U.S. history happened on May 18, 1980. Mount St. Helens' blast and its aftermath left 57 dead and wiped out a large swath of land in Washington.

Photo Gallery: Most Dangerous Volcanoes in America

Louis DeLuca, Dallas Morning News / MCT

1. Kilauea: The most active volcano in the world, Kilauea in Hawaii erupted 45 times in the 20th century. Two nearby towns were completely destroyed by its lava flows in 1990.

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Devastating Disaster

Anak Krakatau, which lies 26 miles from the nearest observation post in Serang on the westernmost edge of Java, gradually formed after the volcanic island of Krakatau blew up in a massive eruption in 1883, triggering tsunamis and killing more than 36,000 people.

Ashes from that eruption, one of the most devastating natural disasters in recorded history, were carried by upper level winds as far away as New York City.

Krakatau, one of dozens of volcanoes in the sprawling Indonesian archipelago, last erupted in 1988, but its eruptions have never approached the ferocity of its parent.

Child of Krakatau is one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the Pacific "Ring of Fire," but authorities have not yet raised the alert level to the highest which would require the evacuation of people around the volcano.

A vulcanologist monitoring Anak Krakatau said the volcano was likely to rumble and roar for some time.

"It is still at the third level of alert. It is safe and there aren't any problems. There were approximately one hundred explosions yesterday," Saut Simatupang, head of volcano observation in Bandung, told Reuters.

"If the energy is the same as this, it is more likely it will stay at this level for quite some time as the tremors are frequent. Today only, there have been one hundred."

Visitors who had their morning coffee in a boat in the shadow of the volcano in the Sunda Strait's choppy waters about a one-and-a-half-hour ride from the mainland said they felt safe.

"It's spectacular, it's just amazing to be here," said Patricia Anderton, a tourist from New Haven in the United states.

"I feel incredibly lucky to be able to see it."

Additional reporting by Ade Mardiyati in Jakarta, Writing by Sugita Kaytal

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