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Two new islands have emerged in waters around Indonesia’s Mount Anak Krakatau following a major eruption last month, the country’s volcano monitoring agency said Friday.
The formations were identified in satellite images of the water-filled caldera surrounding the volcano in the Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra, said Rita Susilawati of the Centre for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation (PVMBG).
“Two formations resembling small islands can be seen around Mount Anak Krakatau,” she told AFP, citing an evaluation of Sentinel satellite imagery developed by the European Space Agency.
One formation was located about 760 metres northwest of the volcano and the other about 495 metres southwest.
Rita cautioned that it was too early to call the formations new “children” of Anak Krakatau, whose name means “child of Krakatau” in Indonesian.
She said further research was needed to determine whether the formations were emerging from the caldera floor, as Anak Krakatau did, or had been built up by deposits of volcanic material.
Anak Krakatau itself emerged after an underwater eruption in the caldera left by the catastrophic 1883 eruption of the original Krakatau volcano. Several temporary landmasses appeared from 1927 but were later eroded, while a permanent island formed in 1930.
The two new formations could also disappear through erosion, Rita said.
Anak Krakatau erupted continuously for 25 hours in September, sending volcanic ash over nearby cities and forcing several airports to close. More than 300,000 passengers were stranded.
The volcano remains at alert Level 2, the second-lowest of Indonesia’s four danger levels. Authorities have advised people to stay at least three kilometres from the eruption centre.
Five journalists covering the September eruption and three boat crew members were presumed dead after their vessel disappeared without trace.
Indonesia lies on the Pacific Ring of Fire, a zone of intense volcanic and seismic activity caused by the movement of tectonic plates.