Indonesian Volcano Roars to Life

Nov. 9, 2007 -- Sending a boom across the bay, the offspring of the fabled Krakatoa volcano unleashes another mighty eruption, blasting smoke and red-hot rocks hundreds of feet into the sky.

Even on its quiet side, the black sand on the now-forbidden island is so hot that a visitor can only briefly set foot on it.

This week's display by Anak Krakatoa -- or "Child of Krakatoa" -- is impressive, yet it is a mere sneeze when compared to the blast in August 1883 that obliterated its "father" in the most powerful explosion in recorded history.

That blast was heard as far away as 2,500 miles and choked the atmosphere with ash and dust, altering weather patterns for years. Some 36,000 people were killed in the eruptions and ensuing tsunamis.

Now the 985-foot peak growing from the ocean where Krakatoa once stood is erupting, one of several Indonesian volcanoes that have roared to life in recent weeks.

They illustrate the awesome seismic forces at work deep below the surface of this island nation.

No lives have been lost in the latest round of activity, but thousands of villagers have been evacuated from the slopes of Mount Kelud on Java island. On Thursday, its alert status was dropped a level, meaning it is still dangerous, but residents can return home.

Indonesia's history is studded with seismic events. The 2004 Asian tsunami was spawned by a monster quake off the west coast, which sits at the intersection of three tectonic plates that form one border of the "Pacific Ring of Fire."

The plates -- each moving at about the speed a fingernail grows each year -- slide against or under each other, allowing molten rock from the Earth's mantle to break the surface via a volcano, or create energy released in an earthquake.