Books have been written about the 1883 eruption of Krakatau, Indonesia.

The best of which is that by Simkin and Fiske.

A brief summary of the major incidents follows:

The explosions were heard 4,653 km distant.

Ash fell on Singapore 840 km to the north,

Cocos Island 1,155 km to the southwest.

and ships 6,076 km west northwest.

Tsunamis reached 40 m above sea level.

At least 36,417 people were killed.

A third of the original landmass disappeared.

Every operative barograph on Earth recorded the air pressure wave.

The tsunamis reached Aden in 12 hours,

a distance which would have taken a steamship 12 days.

There were blue and green Sun's for the next 13 days.

Brilliant red sunsets led to false alarm sent to fire brigade in New York

three months after the eruption.

Pumice, thick enough to support humans, was still afloat 2 years later.

Global temperatures dropped and did not return to normal for five years.

The stamps below were issued by Indonesia to celebrate the centenary in 1983.

The following stamp was issued in 2003

 


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