Find out how people around the world caught wind of the Krakatoa eruption news 139 years ago.
On one spring day back in May 1883, the captain of the German warship Elisabeth witnessed billowing smoke and ash about 2 kilometers tall as they traveled through Indonesia's Sunda Strait. His observation that the ash was so thick it obscured the sun was not unique, as many travelers would soon see it for themselves. These were the first hints of the massive 1883 Krakatoa eruption that would occur months later on the Indonesian volcano.
Three months later on August 27, the Krakatoa Volcano finally exploded, producing what would be the loudest sound ever recorded in modern history, Forbes reported. The blast was so loud that it was heard on more than 10% of Earth's surface. On the island of Mauritius, located 4,650 km away from the Krakatoa Volcano, reports surfaced that they heard a distant cannonade type of sound.
1883 Krakatoa Eruption Becomes the First Global Catastrophe on Earth
The Krakatoa Volcano sits upon the convergence of the Indian-Australian and Eurasian tectonic plates, a region that features high volcanic and seismic activity, Britannica reported. Its base is 1,000 feet below sea level while its cone rises up 6,000 feet above sea level. Scientists estimated that in 416 AD, the mountain's top was destroyed to form a caldera that is six kilometers in diameter with four small islands, Sertung, Lang, Polish Hat, and Rakata.
The 1883 Krakatoa eruption produced up to 21 cubic kilometers of rock fragments, with ash falling over 800,000 square kilometers, causing darkness to fall over the area for up to two days. The eruption of the Krakatoa Volcano also sparked a series of tsunamis that were recorded as far away as South America and Hawaii.
The biggest tsunami that resulted from the 1883 Krakatoa eruption reached a height of 120 feet and took up to 36,000 lives in Java and Sumatra. How Stuff Works reported that because of the massive intensity of the Krakatoa Volcano eruption that scored a 6 on the Volcano Explosivity Index and the sheer number of lives it took in an instant, the event was named the first global catastrophe, with news of it spreading all over the world through the telegraph and printed newspapers.
Telegraph and Printed Newspaper Delivered News About the Krakatoa Volcano's Eruption
As the world's first global catastrophe, the 1883 Krakatoa eruption was news that was heard all over the world thanks to the modern telegraph and printed newspaper. At the time, this was the newest communications technology people used to transmit news and current events.
Coincidentally, the Sunda Strait was and continues to be one of the most important passageways from the Indian Ocean to Southeast Asia, which is why news about the Krakatoa Volcano eruption had spread fast. Most of the telegraph lines in the area were owned by the British at the time, so they were able to relay information to their networks quickly and efficiently.
In just half a day, news from Australia would reach London, where newspapers would write about the 1883 Krakatoa eruption in great detail to satisfy people's curiosity and constant need for more information about the global event.
Hawaii Institute of Geophysics and Planetology Infrasound Laboratory director Milton Garces described the telegraph system at the time of the 1883 Krakatoa eruption as "the early internet" to WBUR's Ben Brock Johnson, who agreed. Johnson described the Krakatoa Volcano eruption as a "moment in which the whole Earth witnessed something almost simultaneously" thanks to the communications technology of the time.
