Earth Observatory Blog

The Child of Krakatoa Awakes

Submitted on 27 Dec 2018 by:

At approximately 9:30pm local time (2:30pm GMT) on the 22nd December 2018, a tsunami struck Indonesia’s Sunda Strait, which lies between the islands of Java and Sumatra, claiming over 430 lives. According to Indonesia’s disaster agency there are at least 1,500 injured, over 120 people still missing, and around 12,000 people have been displaced.

The tsunami occurred during a local holiday for the December solstice, striking a number of popular tourist destinations, including the Tanjung Lesung beach resort in the west of Java. Eyewitness reports indicate there were two separate waves, with the second, larger wave causing the most damage. 

The tsunami was caused by a violent eruption of Anak Krakatau (Fig. 1), the "child" of Krakatoa, in the Sunda Strait....

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Sulawesi's Earthquake-Tsunami and What to Do During Such a Crisis

Submitted on 02 Oct 2018 by:

On 28 September 2018, central Sulawesi in Indonesia got struck by a powerful earthquake measuring 7.5 in magnitude (M). A tsunami that followed later devastated the city of Palu and the town of Donggala, leaving more than a thousand dead and even more homeless.

Associate Professor Adam Switzer, a Principal Investigator at the Earth Observatory, shares with us why this earthquake-tsunami event is a complicated one and what you can do to stay as safe as possible if you were ever caught up in one.
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The Science of Sea-Level Rise: How Climate Change Could Hurt Singapore

Submitted on 19 Sep 2018 by:

The Singapore Series on Sea-Level Rise, a special blog series by four Masters students from the University of Melbourne.

We know human-induced climate change is real. It is happening across the world because of rising concentrations of greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere.

Sometimes it is hard to know if the climate is changing if you are isolated from many of its effects. However, countless populations are already exposed to the impacts of climate change, which include: warming temperatures, changing rainfall, increased droughts and wildfires, decline in agricultural yield, more flooding, and many other consequences.

Although Singapore is not presently in a climate crisis, the effects are not far away. Other than extreme temperatures, one of...

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2017 in Review

Submitted on 21 Dec 2017 by:

Dear EOS Community,

As the year comes to a close, I’d like to thank you for your continued interest and support in the research, initiatives and programs being conducted here at the Earth Observatory. Over the past year, your increased engagement has helped us to better understand your interests in geohazard research and provide content to meet them. From publications to awards and new blog series, here is a look back on a few highlights from 2017.

As data from the Mentawai Earthquake Gap—Tsunami Earthquake Risk Assessment (MEGA-TERA) marine expedition carried out in 2015 was being analysed and while new data from the Marine Investigation of the Rupture Anatomy of the 2012 Great Earthquake (MIRAGE) expedition was being collected in 2016, we were already planning a third...

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From Rooted Tree to Voyaging Boat

Submitted on 05 May 2017 by:

Different rainforest trees grow on an island called Siberut; one of four big islands of the Mentawai Archipelago located off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. Katuka is what Mentawaians call one family of these dipterocarp trees. These trees have very hard wood and are widely used for construction and crafting.

I want to tell you the story of one katuka tree in particular. This 400-year-old tree will soon surrender its life to serve the needs of the people. 

A Giant Falls

As the sun rises over Siberut Island, a Mentawaian called Aman Ani and his fellow villagers sharpen their axes. They prepare their meals, as well as an offering for the forest spirits. Later, they sit quietly in a motorised canoe as they cruise upstream. Some of them are...

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Is Mount Sinabung's Behaviour Changing?

Submitted on 13 Jun 2016 by:

Sinabung volcano in Sumatra, Indonesia, has been almost continuously erupting in the last three years. It has been on the highest alert level since 2013. 

Most of the eruptions on Mount Sinabung have been small. These eruptions vary between lava flows and dome extrusions that accumulate on the volcanic crater, and include explosions with ash plumes that are lower than 3 kilometres (km) in height.

The most common activity on the volcano are the pyroclastic flows that are generated by the gravitational collapse of the dome rocks that have gathered on the summit. The travel distance of these pyroclastic flows range from 2 km to 5 km. As such, since 2014, the exclusion zones were appropriately implemented up to 7 km of the south (S) sector and 6 km southeast-east (SE-E) of...

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M 6.2 Earthquake Strikes off Lombok Coast

Submitted on 09 Jun 2016 by:

A magnitude-6.2 earthquake occurred about 300 km southeast of Bali Island on 9 June 2016 at approximately 12.13pm (Singapore Time). Its epicentre is estimated to be close to the Java Trench front with a shallow focal depth from the global seismic network.

Although the tremors from this earthquake were felt by people in Bali and eastern Java, more than 400 km from the epicentre, it is not likely that this earthquake will generate a major tsunami event in Indonesia based on the current estimation of its magnitude.

The Java Trench is located at the southeastern extension of the Sunda Trench, where the Australian plate subducts beneath other tectonic plates along Java and the Lesser Sunda Island. In the past century, the Java Trench has produced more than four major...

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Kumamoto Earthquakes Reveal the Importance of Active Fault Studies in Sumatra and the Southeast Asian Region

Submitted on 20 Apr 2016 by:

Japan is known for its earthquakes and tsunami hazards due to the active collision involving three tectonic plates; the Philippine Sea plate, the Pacific plate and the Eurasian plate. These plate convergences not only created the giant trench system found off the eastern Japanese coastline, they also generated a series of active inland faults close to densely populated cities like Osaka, Nagoya, and Tokyo (Fig. 1).

Active faults found on land are usually shorter in length, and move more slowly than those found under the sea in the giant subduction zone where tectonic plates meet. The earthquakes generated by these inland faults are infrequent, and often smaller in magnitude and intensity than the earthquakes in the offshore subduction zone. However, because these inland...

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