Scientists of the University of Birmingham in the UK denied the point of view, according to which the collapse of the Vulcan Anak-Krakataau in Indonesia in December 2018 was caused by an explosion. As disclosed in an article published in the Earth and Planetary Science Letters magazine, long-term destabilizing processes have become the cause.
As a result of the catastrophe, the height of the volcano decreased by two thirds, and the island area is twice. This entailed the tsunami, flooded the coast of Java’s island and led to the death of 400 people. Scientists have studied the collapse mechanisms by analyzing the volcanic material from other islands to find out if an explosive eruption could cause disaster.
According to the results of the study, the catastrophe was not caused by the fact that the magma made his way to the surface and provoked a landslide. The explosion was not the cause of the collapse – on the contrary, he occurred after the landslide, which released the pressure on the magmatic system. Scientists have established that large volcanic landslides can occur as a result of long-term instability without any noticeable changes in the magmatic activity of the volcano.