23 December 2018
Where to find information about the Krakatau collapse and tsunami
Posted by Jessica Ball
A September 24, 2018 photograph of a Krakatau eruption plume taken by European Space Agency astronaut Alexander Gerst. (https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/92806/activity-at-krakatau)
As yesterday was my blogiversary, I was planning to write a reflective post about what I’ve accomplished (or not) in the past year. However, with the recent events in Indonesia, I decided to hold off on the introspective and use my platform to help direct people to factual information about Krakatau and the landslide and eruptions it’s experienced in the past several days.
A note to the news media: As a USGS employee, I am officially on furlough due to the government shutdown and am not allowed to answer questions in my official capacity (which, unfortunately, includes expertise on volcanic landslides). I’ll be listing a group of trusted volcanology sources and communicators here, so please contact them instead!
News and Websites
To start, Robin Andrews has written an excellent summary of what we actually know about the activity so far, and will be updating it as new information becomes available (22 December): https://www.forbes.com/sites/robinandrews/2018/12/22/indonesias-krakatoa-just-made-a-deadly-tsunami-heres-everything-you-need-to-know/#183084fb4c3e
As has Erik Klemetti (23 December): http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/rockyplanet/2018/12/23/surprise-tsunami-hits-indonesia-killing-hundreds/#.XB-4WVxKhPY
*UPDATES
Another article from Robin Andrews about the increase in alert level at Anak Krakatau (27 December): https://www.forbes.com/sites/robinandrews/2018/12/27/anak-krakataus-alert-level-has-been-raised-heres-what-that-means/#2910d1646471
Here is an excellent radar image comparison courtesy of the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan (GSI), hat tip to Greg (25 December): http://www.gsi.go.jp/cais/topic181225-index-e.html
ASEAN Report on the tsunami, from a website about natural hazards & disaster monitoring and response in Indonesia (hat tip to Mutiara) (22 December): http://adinet.ahacentre.org/reports/view/1383
MAGMA Indonesia is the Pusat Vulkanologi dan Mitigasi Bencana Geologi (Centre of Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation, PVMBG)’s application for issuing alerts and information about eruptions, although it will require translation: https://magma.vsi.esdm.go.id/
Indonesia’s Kementerian Energi dan Sumber Daya Mineral Republik (Indonesia’s Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources) Media Center for the (some English, but news releases require translation): https://www.esdm.go.id/
Indonesia’s Badan Nasional Penanggulangan Bencana (National Agency for Disaster Countermeasure): https://bnpb.go.id/
The Smithsonian’s Global Volcanism Program has basic information about Krakatau and its recent activity: https://volcano.si.edu/volcano.cfm?vn=262000
US Tsunami Warning Centers (issue alerts for tsunamis worldwide): https://www.tsunami.gov/
- MAGMA Indonesia: @id_magma
- Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesperson for Indonesia’s natural disaster management agency BNPG Indonesia: @Sutopo_PN
- BNPB Indonesia: @BNPB_Indonesia
(Some) volcanologists on Twitter who are talking about the eruption/tsunami (in no particular order)
- Robin Andrews: @squigglyvolcano
- Janine Krippner @janinekrippner
- Simon Carn @simoncarn
- Claire Horwell @claire_horwell
- Erik Klemetti: @eruptionsblog
- Jess Phoenix: @jessphoenix2018
- Rebecca Williams: @volcanologist
Most of all, please remember that if the news is coming from an established, dependable news organization (AP, Reuters, AFP) or outlet (BBC or the Guardian for English-speakers), there’s a good chance that it has been received from official and reliable sources, vetted, and fact-checked. Tabloids (especially of the UK variety) and popular science websites are NOT good places to look for updates, as they will often post fearmongering, misinterpreted or false claims simply to get clicks and attention. If you’re looking for factual updates, try one of the sources I’ve listed, listen when they redirect you to other sources (it is the holiday season and many people may be unavailable), and take ‘breaking’ information with a grain of salt.
Please leave a comment if there are helpful sources of information that I’ve left out, and I’ll be happy to add them. And if you’re in the region, you have my best wishes for your safety during this crisis. Please take care of yourselves!
Jessica Ball is a volcanologist at the U.S. Geological Survey, researching volcanic hydrothermal systems and stability, and doing science communication for the California Volcano Observatory. She previously worked at the Geological Society of America's Washington DC Policy Office, learning about the intersection of Earth science and legislative affairs. Her Mendenhall postdoc and PhD focused on how water affects the stability of volcanoes, and involved both field investigations and numerical modeling applications. Her blogging covers a range of topics, from her experiences in academic geosciences to science outreach and communication to her field and lab work in volcanology.
Hi Jessica,
For background also see article by Thomas Giachetti and colleagues in 2012 (http://sp.lyellcollection.org/content/361/1/79 …) for some models that had the Anak Krakatau collapse location pretty spot on. Not an easy article to access, I’m sure he can be emailed for a reprint https://pages.uoregon.edu/tgiachet/ .
Mahalo nui loa!
Hello!
Helpful information, take a look to http://adinet.ahacentre.org/reports/view/1383 or https://ahacentre.org/, they post ASEAN disaster monitoring, response, etc. Since some website does not provide an English version, you can refer to that web. I am from Indonesia and thank you for the wishes.
Thanks for this! I’ll add it to the post and to my personal bookmarks.
Here’s the best radar before/after imagery I’ve yet found. That’s a big chunk of Krakatau that has gone missing!
http://www.gsi.go.jp/cais/topic181225-index-e.html
Hi Jessica – just a note about the page on Stromboli at geology.com, you’re named as the author.
https://geology.com/volcanoes/stromboli/
The first picture on the page says its Stromboli from the north east, it’s actually a picture from the southwest, the village you can see is Ginostra. If it was from NE you’d see more houses and also the extinct plug island Strombolicchio. The highest point of the island (where the tourists go to watch the fireworks) is to the east with the active craters below it to the west.
The second photo of Sciara del Fuoco says its on the east of the island, again its on the west side.
I envy you your job and I hope you get back to work soon!