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🇮🇩 Indonesia /Disasters & Emergencies

How far did the rumble from Mount Anak Krakatau’s eruption travel?

From Tempo · () Indonesian

Translated from Indonesian and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

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  • Indonesia’s volcanology agency suspects that rumbling and vibrations reported across parts of Java and Sumatra came from an eruption of Mount Anak Krakatau.
  • The agency linked the sounds to an eruption at 10:17 p.m. local time on September 4 and said no significant tectonic earthquakes were recorded in the affected areas.
  • Officials said volcanic sounds can travel hundreds of kilometers, but acknowledged that timing alone does not definitively identify the source.

The rumbling and vibrations that residents reported across West Java, Banten and Lampung were likely linked to Mount Anak Krakatau’s eruption, Indonesia’s Centre for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation said. The sounds spread widely on social media after being heard from Friday night into Saturday morning.

PVMBG head Siti Sumilah Rita Susilawati said the timing suggested a connection with the volcano’s activity. She added that the eruption began at 10:17 p.m. local time on Friday, September 4, and continued into Saturday morning, when she addressed reporters online.

We suspect that it is indeed related to the eruption activity of Mount Anak Krakatau that occurred at the same time as the rumbling and vibrations.

· Siti Sumilah Rita SusilawatiThe PVMBG chief linked the sounds reported by residents to the volcano’s activity.

The agency did not present the timing as conclusive proof. Rita said the suspicion was strengthened by a report from the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysical Agency that found no significant tectonic earthquakes in West Java, Banten or Lampung during the period.

But the propagation of eruption sounds over a long distance is a phenomenon that may occur.

· Siti Sumilah Rita SusilawatiShe cautioned that long-distance transmission of volcanic sounds is possible but did not establish the source conclusively.

Rita pointed to a similar episode in April 2020, when residents in Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang and Bekasi heard rumbling associated with an Anak Krakatau eruption. She also cited the 2014 eruption of Mount Kelud, whose sound reached Yogyakarta and Central Java. That eruption sent a column 17 kilometers high and released a large amount of acoustic energy, she said.

The type of eruption also matters. Rita said Anak Krakatau’s lava-fountain eruptions are usually accompanied by loud rumbling. The acoustic energy can spread over hundreds of kilometers, although the agency said the available evidence did not definitively identify the source of every sound reported this time.

During the eruption of Mount Kelud, with a column of 17 kilometers, it released a very large amount of acoustic energy. So, based on the data we have, including the literature we obtained, there is a possibility that eruptions can be heard at a considerable distance.

· Siti Sumilah Rita SusilawatiShe used the 2014 Kelud eruption to explain how volcanic sounds can travel far.
About this summary

Originally published by Tempo in Indonesian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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