Piek van Sebesi in Straat Soenda met daarvoor liggend vulkanische rotsen in oktober 1883

Sebesi (also Sebeezee, or 'Bleezie') is an Indonesian island in the

Sunda Strait The Sunda Strait ( id, Selat Sunda) is the strait between the Indonesian islands of Java island, Java and Sumatra. It connects the Java Sea with the Indian Ocean. Etymology The strait takes its name from the Sunda Kingdom, which ruled the weste ...

, between

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...

and

Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...

, and part of the province of

Lampung Lampung (Lampung: ), officially the Province of Lampung ( id, Provinsi Lampung) is a province of Indonesia. It is located on the southern tip of the island of Sumatra. It has a short border with the province of Bengkulu to the northwest, and a ...

. It rises to a height of and lies about north of the

Krakatoa Archipelago The Krakatoa Archipelago is a small uninhabited archipelago of volcanic islands formed by the Krakatoa stratovolcano located in the Sunda Strait, nestled between the much larger islands of Java and Sumatra. As of 2018, the archipelago consists ...

; it is the closest large island to Krakatoa, about the same area and height as the remnant of

Rakata Rakata ( ), also called Greater Krakatau, is a partially collapsed stratovolcano on the Indonesian island of Krakatoa ( id, Krakatau) in the Sunda Strait between the islands of Sumatra and Java. Standing tall, it was the largest and southernmo ...

. Like

Krakatoa Krakatoa (), also transcribed (), 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 (Krakatoa archipelago) comprising four islands. Tw ...

, it too is volcanic, although there are no dated eruptions known. (A single report of an eruption in 1680 seems to be a confusion with the Krakatoa eruption reported from that year.) Unlike the Krakatoa Archipelago, Sebesi has permanent streams and is inhabited. Habitation is concentrated most heavily on the northern and eastern coasts of the island. Sebesi was devastated during the 1883 volcanic eruption of Krakatoa. Official records give approximately 3,000 people killed, with 1,000 of these being 'non-residents'. By 1890, Sebesi was being re-cleared. It is believed that since it lies closer to Sumatra, it has served as a 'stepping stone' for much of the

flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''. E ...

and

fauna Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is '' funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as '' biota''. Zoo ...

which was re-established at Krakatoa. By the 1920s, settlers had returned, and today Sebesi is virtually completely cultivated, with only a small area at the peak and some

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evoluti ...

swamps still natural. In December 2018, an eruption of

Mount Anak Krakatau Anak Krakatoa ( id, Anak Krakatau)English translation and common name: ''Child of Krakatoa'' is a volcanic island in Indonesia. On 29 December 1927, Anak Krakatoa first emerged from the caldera formed in 1883 by the explosive volcanic eruption ...

triggered a tsunami that hit the costal areas of the island, as well as several smaller islands nearby.

References

* Simkin and Fiske: ''Krakatau 1883; The Volcanic Eruption and Its Effects'' (1983) * Ian Thornton: ''Krakatau: The Destruction and Reassembly of an Island Ecosystem'' (1996) Islands of the Sunda Strait Volcanoes of Indonesia Subduction volcanoes Inactive volcanoes Krakatoa Lampung {{Lampung-geo-stub