After Sunda Strait Tsunami, Mount Anak Krakatau Continue to Erupt

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - After the Sunda Strait tsunami, Mount Anak Krakatau continued to erupt on Sunday afternoon, December 23. The mountain activity is suspected to be the cause of a tsunami in the Sunda Strait that swept the west coast of Banten and South Lampung on Saturday, December 22.

From Tempo’s air monitoring, the condition of Mount Anak Krakatau continued to emit thick smoke into the air. A puff of smoke and volcanic material from the mouth of the mountain continued to burst and ejected upwards.

The National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) stated that the cause of the Sunda Strait tsunami was an underwater landslide that was thought to be an influence from the eruption of Mount Anak Krakatau. BNPB’s head of Data Center and Information spokesperson Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said the Sunda Strait tsunami was not triggered by an earthquake. Because, he said, no tectonic activity was detected.

“The possibility of a tsunami occurred due to an underwater landslide affected by the eruption of Mount Anak Krakatau,” Sutopo delivered it in a written statement received by Tempo on Sunday, December 23.

A witness to the Sunda Strait tsunami, Hendi Alfatih, said Mount Anak Krakatau erupted repeatedly before the tsunami hit Anyer, Banten. He said the mountain erupted many times since Saturday afternoon.

“The [eruption] sound was loud like lightning, the eruption was seen to reach Anyer,” he said.

SYAFIUL HADI