Indonesia: two new islands appeared near the Anak Krakatau volcano after eruptions

Two new islands have appeared near Indonesia's Anak Krakatau volcano, following a series of eruptions last month that paralyzed the country's main airport, an official said Friday (October 2).

The islands are less than a kilometer from Mount Anak Krakatau, according to satellite images, the Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazards Mitigation (PVMBG) said. “According to the analysis of Sentinel satellite images, two formations resembling small islands are visible around Mount Anak Krakatau,” said the head of the agency, Rita Susilawati. It is too early to call these islands “children” or “grandchildren” of Mount Anak Krakatau, Rita added.

The Anak Krakatau volcano, which means "child of Krakatoa", is located between the islands of Java and Sumatra, 150 kilometers east of Jakarta. It erupted in early September, leading to the closure of several airports across the country and the cancellation of hundreds of flights. The eruption of Krakatoa in 1883 was one of the deadliest and most destructive disasters in history, with an estimated death toll of 35,000. The Indonesian agency has not yet carried out a field verification to determine the constituent materials and the formation process of the two islands, in particular to find out whether they are new sites of emergence of volcanic materials or the result of an accumulation of eruptive deposits.

Five missing

In the case of Anak Krakatoa, several tracts of land briefly emerged from 1927 before disappearing through erosion, until a perennial island was formed in 1930.