Kra·ka·tau

(krăk′ə-tou′, krä′kə-) or Kra·ka·to·a (-tō′ə)

A volcanic island of Indonesia between Sumatra and Java. An explosive eruption in August 1883 destroyed most of the island and caused a tsunami that killed more than 36,000 people.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Kra•ka•tau

or Kra•ka•tao

(ˌkræk əˈtaʊ, ˌkrɑ kə-)

also Kra•ka•to•a

(-ˈtoʊ ə)

n.

a volcano and small island in Indonesia, between Java and Sumatra: violent eruption 1883.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

Krakatau - a small volcanic island in Indonesia between Java and Sumatra; its violent eruption in 1883 was the greatest in recorded history

Krakatao, Krakatoa

Dutch East Indies, Indonesia, Republic of Indonesia - a republic in southeastern Asia on an archipelago including more than 13,000 islands; achieved independence from the Netherlands in 1945; the principal oil producer in the Far East and Pacific regions

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References in periodicals archive

The 1883 eruption of the Krakatau volcano, in present-day Indonesia, had the force of 200 megatons of TNT.

Our planet is not fragile

Beginning with the Bronze Age eruption, the book tells the human and geological stories of eruptions of such volcanoes as Vesuvius, Krakatau, Mount Pelee, and Tristan da Cunha.

What We Are Reading Today: Volcanoes in Human History

Secondly, there is the one at Palu which evolved from a shore-based earthquake triggered liquefaction landslide and, thirdly, the latest from an offshore volcanic eruption from which a large chunk of Anak Krakatau slid off into the sea and started the wall of water that spread across the Sunda Strait.

Protecting The Coastlines

local time, a 64-hectare (158-acre) chunk of Anak Krakatau volcano, in Indonesia, slid into the ocean following an eruption.

a[euro]CHILD OF KRAKATOAa[euro][TM] VOLCANO IN INDONESIA IS STILL DANGEROUS

Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman for Indonesia's disaster mitigation agency (BNPB), said in a press conference on Monday that the Anak Krakatau volcano has been less active over the past four days.

Indonesia's deadly volcano activity subsides

MOST of the Anak Krakatau volcano slid into the sea after it erupted - causing the killer tsunami.

Volcano slid into waves to spur tsunami

Summary: Jakarta [Indonesia], Dec 30 (ANI): The volcanic Mount Anak Krakatau, also known as the 'angry child of Krakatoa', which had triggered a devastating tsunami striking the Sunda Strait here on the night of December 22, has reduced to a quarter of its size, Indonesia's Centre for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation confirmed.

Anak Krakatau reduced to quarter of its original size

22 that swept the coastal communities in the Sunda Strait seems to have been caused by landslides from flank failure in the southwest slope of Anak Krakatau.

What Philippines can learn from Indonesia disaster

Researchers have examined satellite images of Anak Krakatau to calculate the amount of rock and ash that sheared off into the sea.

Anak Krakatau: Indonesian volcano's dramatic collapse

The island volcano Krakatau in the Sunda strait between Sumatra and Java in Indonesia erupted in 1883, one of the largest in history.

We're also on alert after Krakatau quake

Summary: TEHRAN (FNA)- Massive evacuations have been ordered from the coast along Indonesia's Western Sunda Strait after warning of a possible second tsunami triggered by eruption of Anak Krakatau volcano whose alert level has been upgraded.

+40,000 Evacuated from Indonesia's Sunda Strait for Fear of Fresh Tsunami