Abstract
The 22 December 2018 Anak Karakatau tsunami in Indonesia was a rare event in that few instrumental records existed of tsunamis generated by volcanic sources before this event. The tsunami, which left a death toll of 437, is of global importance as it provides opportunities to develop knowledge on generation, propagation and coastal effects of volcanic tsunamis. Here, we report results of field surveys along the coast of the Sunda Strait, Indonesia to study tsunami wave heights and coastal damage. We surveyed 29 locations and measured ranges of tsunami runup from 0.9 to 5.2 m, tsunami heights from 1.4 to 6.3 m, flow depths from 0.2 m to 3.0 m and inundation distances from 18 to 212 m. The largest tsunami heights and concentration of damage and fatalities occurred on the western shore of Java from Tanjung Lesung to Sumur. The largest cluster of fatalities occurred at Tanjung Lesung, where more than 50 people died while attending an outdoor music being held at the shoreline. The tsunami runup and tsunami height in Tanjung Lesung were 4.0 and 2.9–3.8 m, respectively. We believe this tragedy could have been avoided if the event organizers were more aware of the hazard posed by the Anak Krakatau volcano, as it had been actively erupting for several months prior to the tsunami, and simply moved the concert stage 100 m inland. Many of the locations surveyed demonstrated a similar pattern where the majority of casualties and destruction occurred within 100 m of the coast; in several locations, lives were saved where buildings were located at least this distance inland. The significant damage and numerous deaths which occurred in Sumur, despite the moderate tsunami height of 2.3–2.5 m, can be attributed to the extremely low-lying coastal land there. Flow depth in Sumur was 0.9–2.0 m. During our field surveys, nearly one year after the event, we noted that some of the damaged buildings were being rebuilt in the same locations just 10–30 m from the shoreline. We question this practice since the new buildings could be at the same tsunami risk as those damaged in the 2018 event.
Highlights
The eruption of the Anak Krakatau Volcano (AKV) (Fig. 1a) on 22 December 2018 resulted in a deadly tsunami along the coast of Sunda Strait, Indonesia (Muhari et al, 2019; Putra et al, 2020).Approximately 228 m of the top part of the AKV slid into the sea as a result of the eruption (Fig. 1b)
One of the tragedies during the Anak Krakatau Tsunami (AKT) occurred in Tanjung Lesung coastal resort where more than 50 people were killed while attending an outdoor music concert a few meters away from the shore (Fig. 9c)
The areas damaged by the tsunami resulting from the eruption of the Anak Krakatau Volcano (AKV) on 22 December 2018 were surveyed to record tsunami heights and runups and to assess tsunami damage
Summary
The eruption of the Anak Krakatau Volcano (AKV) (Fig. 1a) on 22 December 2018 resulted in a deadly tsunami along the coast of Sunda Strait, Indonesia (Muhari et al, 2019; Putra et al, 2020). The. 2018 Anak Krakatau Tsunami (AKT) reached a maximum runup of 13 m (Muhari et al 2019) along the southern coast of the strait which caused significant damage (Fig. 1c) and a death toll of 437 people. In this context, the 2018 AKT provided an opportunity to extend our knowledge on volcanic tsunamis as this event was recorded by several instruments such as tide gauges and seismometers as well as additional information were provided through field survey reports. We report the results of field surveys of the areas affected by the 2018 AKT along the southern coast of the Sunda Strait. There have been at least two published reports of the field surveys before this study (i.e. Muhari et al 2019; Putra et al 2020), further field works of this kind are helpful to better understand the event and to provide complementary field data
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
