Indonesia’s Geological Agency on April 24 raised the alert level for the erupting Anak Krakatau volcano to level three, requiring a danger zone of up to 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) as volcanic activity intensified.
Hendra Gunawan, head of the Volcanic Mitigation Division, said on April 25 that the PVMBG is coordinating with the relevant authorities on the potential secondary hazard, citing the eruption of Anak Krakatau in 2018.
“We will assess the activity level of Mount Anak Krakatau, particularly in terms of secondary hazards, by observing both volcanic eruption and ground motion,” Hendra told Indonesian news outlet Detik News, according to a translation.
Over the course of 24 hours, the agency recorded 21 eruption shocks, 155 phreatic tremors, 14 harmonic tremors, 121 low-frequency earthquakes, 17 shallow volcanic earthquakes, and 38 deep volcanic earthquakes at the mountain.
The geological agency stated that a safe zone had been established to block the public from going near the area.
In 1883, the volcano then known as Krakatoa erupted in one of the biggest blasts in recorded history, killing more than 36,000 people in a series of tsunamis and lowering the global surface temperature by one degree Celsius with its ash.
Anak Krakatau, or “Child of Krakatau,” is the island that emerged from the area in 1927 and has been growing ever since.