The crater lake in Kelut Volcano in Eastern Java, Indonesia, has
been a killer. Even small eruptions violently throw out the lake
water, creating massive mudflows down the flanks of the volcano.
After the 1919 eruption which killed over 5000 people, tunnels
were drilled through the crater rim to partly drain the lake.
This effort has reduced the danger from Kelut, but not
completely. Eruptions in 1951, 1966, 1990, taken together,
killed another 250 people. Photo copyright R.W. Decker, 1960
Return to Archive