TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The recent eruption of Mount Anak Krakatau is reminiscent of the Sunda Strait tsunami at the end of 2018 that claimed many lives. Mirzam Abdurrachman, a volcanologist from the Bandung Institute of Technology, said that the recent eruption of Anak Krakatau is quite powerful.

"The lava is starting to come out, the eruption column reaches a height of between 1,000-2,000 meters," Mirzam said on Wednesday, November 29.

Mirzam said the Anak Krakatau eruption activity can be classified as normal and natural. "But when we look back at the 2018 incident, the landslide caused a tsunami after the crater opened and an eruption occurred," he said.

The 2018 volcano tsunami was caused by landslides that caused waves as high as 80 meters around Anak Krakatau. On the coasts of Banten and Lampung, waves rose as high as 13 meters. The incident claimed 437 lives, injured 14,059, and displaced 33,719 people.

Mount Anak Krakatau, located in the waters of the Sunda Strait, South Lampung Regency, Lampung Province, erupted again at 11:38 yesterday. The ash column rose 800 meters above its peak or around 957 meters above sea level.

The Center for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation or PVMBG has raised the status of Mount Anak Krakatau to level III. According to Mirzam, the current observations are carried out comprehensively.

Anwar Siswadi

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