Origin and spelling of the name krakatau

Although there are earlier descriptions of an island in the Sunda Strait with a "pointed mountain", the earliest mention of Krakatoa by name in the Western world was on a 1611 map by Lucas Janszoon Waghenaer, who labeled the island "Pulo Carcata". (Pulo is a form of pulau, the Indonesian word for "island".) About two dozen variants have been found, including Crackatouw, Cracatoa, and Krakatao (in an older Portuguese-based spelling). The first known appearance of the spelling Krakatau was by Wouter Schouten, who passed by "the high tree-covered island of Krakatau" in October 1658.

The origin of the Indonesian name Krakatau is uncertain. The main theories are:

• Onomatopoeia, imitating the noise made by cockatoos (Kakatoes) which used to inhabit the island. However, Van den Berg points out that these birds are found only in the "eastern part of the archipelago" (meaning the Lesser Sundas, east of Java). (See Wallace Line).
• From Sanskrit karka or karkata or karkataka, meaning "lobster" or "crab". (Rakata also means "crab" in the older Javan language.) This is considered the most likely origin.
• The closest Malay word is kelakatu, meaning "white-winged ant". Furneaux points out that in pre-1883 maps, Krakatoa does somewhat resemble an ant seen from above, with Lang and Verlaten lying to the sides like wings.

Krakatau Bum-Bum | Historical significance

Historical significance

The best-known eruption of Krakatoa culminated in a series of massive explosions on August 26–27, 1883, which was among the most violent volcanic events in modern and recorded history. With a Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) of 6, the eruption was equivalent to 200 megatons (MT) of TNT—about 13,000 times the nuclear yield of the Little Boy bomb (13 to 16 kT) that devastated Hiroshima, Japan during World War II and four times the yield of the