Much worse than Krakatoa

Much worse than Krakatoa

With a death toll in the Indian Ocean nations of around
200,000 and rising, the Boxing Day tsunamis caused by the massive
undersea earthquake centered near Simeulue island off the
northwest coast of Sumatra, are by far the most destructive in
recorded history.

Indonesia, with about 174,000 confirmed dead, has borne the
brunt of this unprecedented natural disaster just as it did on
Aug. 27, 1883 when 36,500 people were killed by two massive
waves, estimated by eyewitnesses to be 30 meters high, which
engulfed and destroyed the towns of Anyer and Merak in West Java
and Telok Betong in Lampung following the cataclysmic explosion
of Krakatoa island in the Sunda Strait.

But the death toll from Krakatoa was confined mainly to the
shorelines in the immediate vicinity of the explosions; the
tsunamis did move across the Indian Ocean and reached the town of
Galle on the southern tip of Sri Lanka, where violent waves of
three-and-a-half-meters high were recorded. But, apart from one
women who was swept out to sea, no other casualties were reported
in Sri Lanka or farther afield, although the effects of the waves
were recorded on tide meters off the southwest coast of France
some 17,600 kilometers away.

Indonesia has more volcanoes and more volcanic activity than
any other nation on earth, and its vulcanologists and
seismologists are among the most experienced in the world. These
scientists have had considerable success in monitoring volcanic
activity, particularly on Java where there are 21 fully active
volcanoes, and providing timely warnings of eruptions.

Success in predicting earthquakes has been more elusive both
in Indonesia and elsewhere. One can predict that further
earthquakes will occur along this zone but where and when is
unknown; however, it is certain that some of the answers will lie
within this well-mapped subduction zone.

It is to be hoped that once disaster relief has reached the
most needy, and the rebuilding of the ravaged infrastructure of
Aceh and the other towns and villages across the Indian Ocean
nations affected by this tragedy is completed, some funds will be
made available for a concerted long-term international study of
volcanism and seismology along the length of this particular
tectonic plate boundary; one that is clearly the most active on
the planet.

DAVID E. PARRY, Jakarta