The Eruption Sequence

Krakatoa did not blow all at once. It built up over months, then unloaded in a single morning:

• May 1883 — small eruptions begin; ships report floating pumice and the smell of sulfur
• August 26 — explosions intensify, heard 150 miles away in Jakarta
• August 27, 10:02 AM — the cataclysmic blast tears the island apart
• The aftermath — two-thirds of the island is gone, vaporized into the sea

The final explosion hurled about 6 cubic miles of rock skyward. Where a mountain had stood that morning, only open water remained by afternoon.