Eruption shrinks volcanic island

JAKARTA, Indonesia — Scientists say Indonesia’s Anak Krakatau volcano island, which erupted and collapsed a week ago and caused a deadly tsunami, is now only about a quarter of its pre-eruption size. Anak Krakatau now has a volume of 1.4 billion to 2.4 billion cubic feet and lost 5.2 billion to 6.3 billion cubic feet of volume since the Dec. 22 eruption and tsunami, according to Indonesia’s Center for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation.

The analysis shows the scale of the island’s collapse, shedding light on the power of the tsunami that crashed into more than 185 miles of coastline in Sumatra and Java. More than 420 people died in the waves, which were 6.6 feet or higher and 40,000 were displaced.

The center said that the crater peak is now 360 feet high compared with 1,108 feet in September.

Experts have largely relied on satellite radar images to work out what happened to the volcano because cloud cover, continuing eruptions and high seas have hampered inspections. The center said it would get more precise results from more visual inspections.

Authorities have warned residents to stay at least about a half mile away from the coastline of the Sunda Strait, which separates Java and Sumatra, because of the risk of another tsunami.

But experts now say another potential tsunami caused by the volcano collapsing again would be less severe because of its reduced mass.

Anak Krakatau, which means Child of Kratakau, is the offspring of the infamous Krakatau volcano, whose monumental eruption in 1883 caused a period of global cooling.