Krakatoa: The Last Days

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Krakatoa: The Last Days
KrakatoaLastDaysDVD.jpg
Cover art of BBC DVD.
Genre Docudrama
History
Disaster
Written byColin Heber-Percy
Michael Olmert
Lyall B. Watson
Directed by Sam Miller
Starring Rupert Penry-Jones
Olivia Williams
Kevin McMonagle
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
Production
ProducersAlan Eyres
J. Gregory Smith
CinematographyGiulio Biccari
Running time90 minutes
Budget£2,200,000
Release
Original network BBC One
Original release7 May 2006 (2006-05-07)

Krakatoa: The Last Days (also titled Krakatoa: Volcano of Destruction in the U.S. on the Discovery Channel) is a BBC Television docudrama that premiered on 7 May 2006 on BBC One. The program is based upon four eyewitness accounts of the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa, an active stratovolcano between the islands of Sumatra and Java, present day Indonesia.

Contents

Production

The series was produced by the BBC in co-production with Discovery Channel, RTL Television, and France 2.

Ratings

The film was broadcast on BBC One on 7 May 2006 and drew 6.4 million viewers (27% audience share) [1]

Synopsis

The 1883 eruption of Krakatoa is the second greatest volcanic eruption in recorded history (after the 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora, only 68 years earlier), erupting more than 18 cubic kilometres of tephra in less than 48 hours, and killing about 36,500 people. The film refers to an account in the Pustaka Raja of a previous violent eruption in that area.

A subplot concerning Rogier Verbeek (played by Kevin McMonagle), a Dutch geologist who had surveyed the area two years earlier and laid the basis for modern vulcanology with his research after the eruption, adds a scientific touch and a helpful map to the computer-generated imagery that convincingly portrays the ash cloud, collapse of the stratovolcano, pyroclastic flows, and tsunamis. The eruption column collapsing sends a big pyroclastic flow over the Sunda Strait coast of Sumatra.The film also portrays a family trying to escape the devastating volcano, and a ship with more than 100 passengers trapped at sea when the final collapse of Krakatoa island at the end of the eruption generates a massive tsunami.

Cast

Historical inaccuracy

Just after Captain Lindeman leaves the cargo bay and heads to the ship's deck, one of the girls begins to sing a song to calm down the nervous passengers. The song is "Płonie ognisko w lesie" ("Burning fireplace in the forest"), a popular Polish scout song. It was written in 1922, 39 years after the Krakatoa eruption.[ citation needed ]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Krakatoa</span> Volcanic caldera in the Sunda Strait

Krakatoa, also transcribed Krakatau, is a caldera in the Sunda Strait between the islands of Java and Sumatra in the Indonesian province of Lampung. The caldera is part of a volcanic island group comprising four islands. Two, Lang and Verlaten, are remnants of a previous volcanic edifice destroyed in eruptions long before the famous 1883 eruption; another, Rakata, is the remnant of a much larger island destroyed in the 1883 eruption.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stratovolcano</span> Type of conical volcano composed of layers of lava and tephra

A stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, is a conical volcano built up by many layers (strata) of hardened lava and tephra. Unlike shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile with a summit crater and periodic intervals of explosive eruptions and effusive eruptions, although some have collapsed summit craters called calderas. The lava flowing from stratovolcanoes typically cools and hardens before spreading far, due to high viscosity. The magma forming this lava is often felsic, having high-to-intermediate levels of silica, with lesser amounts of less-viscous mafic magma. Extensive felsic lava flows are uncommon, but have travelled as far as 15 km (9 mi).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pyroclastic flow</span> Fast-moving current of hot gas and volcanic matter that moves away from a volcano

A pyroclastic flow is a fast-moving current of hot gas and volcanic matter that flows along the ground away from a volcano at average speeds of 100 km/h (30 m/s) but is capable of reaching speeds up to 700 km/h (190 m/s). The gases and tephra can reach temperatures of about 1,000 °C (1,800 °F).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soufrière Hills</span> Volcano on Montserrat in the Caribbean

The Soufrière Hills are an active, complex stratovolcano with many lava domes forming its summit on the Caribbean island of Montserrat. After a long period of dormancy, the Soufrière Hills volcano became active in 1995 and has continued to erupt ever since. Its eruptions have rendered more than half of Montserrat uninhabitable, destroying the capital city, Plymouth, and causing widespread evacuations: about two-thirds of the population have left the island. Chances Peak in the Soufrière Hills was the highest summit on Montserrat until the mid-1990s, but it has since been eclipsed by various rising and falling volcanic domes during the recent volcanic activity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rakata</span> Volcano island in the Krakatoa caldera

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anak Krakatoa</span> Volcanic island in the Sunda Strait

Anak Krakatoa is a volcanic island in Indonesia. On 29 December 1927, Anak Krakatoa first emerged from the caldera formed in 1883 by the explosive volcanic eruption that destroyed the island of Krakatoa. There has been sporadic eruptive activity at the site since the late 20th century, culminating with a large underwater collapse of the volcano that caused a deadly tsunami in December 2018. There has been subsequent activity since. Due to its young age, the island is one of several in the area that are of interest to, and the subject of extensive study by, volcanologists.

<i>Krakatoa, East of Java</i> 1968 film

Krakatoa, East of Java is a 1968 American disaster film starring Maximilian Schell and Brian Keith. During the 1970s, the film was re-released under the title Volcano. The story is loosely based on events surrounding the 1883 eruption of the volcano on the island of Krakatoa, with the characters engaged in the recovery of a cargo of pearls from a shipwreck perilously close to the volcano. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Special Visual Effects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vulcanian eruption</span> Volcanic eruption with dense ash clouds

A Vulcanian eruption is a type of volcanic eruption characterized by a dense cloud of ash-laden gas exploding from the crater and rising high above the peak. They usually commence with phreatomagmatic eruptions which can be extremely noisy due to the rising magma heating water in the ground. This is usually followed by the explosive clearing of the vent and the eruption column is dirty grey to black as old weathered rocks are blasted out of the vent. As the vent clears, further ash clouds become grey-white and creamy in colour, with convolutions of the ash similar to those of Plinian eruptions.

Perboewatan was one of the three main volcanic cones on the island of Krakatoa, in the Sunda Strait, in Indonesia. It was the lowest and northernmost of the cones. Perboewatan was completely destroyed during the 1883 eruption; the caldera is approximately 820 feet (250 m) deep at its former location.

Danan was one of the three volcanic cones on the island of Krakatoa, in the Sunda Strait, in Indonesia. It stood 450 metres (1,480 ft), lay in the central area of the island, and may have been a twin volcano. Danan was almost entirely destroyed in the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa; only a rocky islet named Bootsmansrots remains of it.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soputan</span> Volcano in Indonesia

Soputan is a stratovolcano in Indonesia. It is on the northern arm of Sulawesi island and rises to an elevation of 1,785 m (5,853 ft). The geologically young and mostly unvegetated cone is primarily constructed of andesite and basalt rock. It sits on the southern rim of the Tondano caldera, which formed in the Quaternary period. The volcano is one of Sulawesi's most active, with 39 confirmed eruptions in the last 600 years. Eruptive activity at Soputan typically consists of pyroclastic flows, lava flows, lava domes and Strombolian-style explosions.

Gouverneur Generaal Loudon was a mail steamer and excursion vessel which survived the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rogier Verbeek</span> Dutch geologist and natural scientist

Rogier Diederik Marius Verbeek was a Dutch geologist and natural scientist.

Krakatoa, in the Sunda Strait in Indonesia, has attracted a significant literature and media response to the 1883 eruption and subsequent events in the vicinity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1883 eruption of Krakatoa</span> Catastrophic volcanic eruption

The 1883 eruption of Krakatoa in the Sunda Strait occurred from 20 May until 21 October 1883, peaking in the late morning hours of 27 August when over 70% of the island of Krakatoa and its surrounding archipelago were destroyed as it collapsed into a caldera.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Gareloi</span> Stratovolcano in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska, U.S.

Mount Gareloi, or Gareloi Volcano, is a stratovolcano in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska, United States, about 1,259 miles (2,026 km) from Anchorage. Gareloi is located on Gareloi Island, and comprises most of its land mass. The island also has two small glaciers which protrude to the northwest and southeast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Volcanism of Indonesia</span>

Indonesia is a volcanically active country, containing numerous major volcanoes. It has the most volcanoes of any country in the world, with 76 volcanoes that have erupted at least 1,171 times in total within historical times. The Smithsonian Institution has 141 Indonesian entries in its volcano database. Indonesia has around 130 active volcanoes that are part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, and it has suffered the highest numbers of eruptions resulting in fatalities, damage to arable land, debris flows, tsunamis, lava domes, and pyroclastic flows. Indonesia's most active volcanoes are Kelut and Mount Merapi on the island of Java. The majority of Indonesia's volcano are located on a 3,000 km long chain called the Sunda Arc. Here, the subduction of the Indian Ocean crust underneath the Asian Plate produced most of these volcanoes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Krakatoa archipelago</span> Archipelago of volcanic islands in Indonesia

The Krakatoa Archipelago is a small uninhabited archipelago of volcanic islands formed by the Krakatoa stratovolcano located in the Sunda Strait, nestled between the much larger islands of Java and Sumatra. As of 2018, the archipelago consists of four main islands: Verlaten, Lang, Rakata, and the currently volcanically active Anak Krakatoa. Together, the islands are a part of the Indonesian island arc system, created by the northeastward subduction of the Indo-Australian Plate. As part of a dynamic volcanic system, the islands have been continuously reshaped throughout recorded history, most notably in the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Volcanic tsunami</span> Natural hazard

A volcanic tsunami, also called a volcanogenic tsunami, is a tsunami produced by volcanic phenomena. About 20–25% of all fatalities at volcanoes during the past 250 years have been caused by volcanic tsunamis. The most devastating volcanic tsunami in recorded history was that produced by the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa. The waves reached heights of 40 m (130 ft) and killed 36,000 people.

References

  1. Sweney, Mark (8 May 2006). "Krakatoa holds its own". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 21 July 2008.