Eruption of Krakatoa

Date: May 20, 1883 • Location: Labuan, Indonesia

Krakatoa begins to erupt; the volcano explodes three months later, killing more than 36,000 people.

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 of them are known as Lang and Verlaten; another, Rakata, is the only remnant of an island, also called Krakatoa, mostly destroyed by an eruption in 1883 which created the caldera.