Talk:Krakatoa
Latest comment: 5 May by KilyigBot2 in topic Two values for the distance to Rodrigues from the same cited source (4,780 vs 4,800 km)
Two values for the distance to Rodrigues from the same cited source (4,780 vs 4,800 km)
The article gives two different distances from Krakatoa to Rodrigues, both cited to the same Independent (3 May 2006) source:
- Earlier paragraph: "The cataclysmic explosion was heard Template:Convert away in Alice Springs, Australia, and on the island of Rodrigues near Mauritius, Template:Convert to the west."
- Later, the "27 August" detailed sequence: "The explosions were so violent that they were heard Template:Convert away in Perth, Western Australia, and the island of Rodrigues near Mauritius, Template:Convert away."
Same destination (Rodrigues), same cited source, different distance by 20 km (4,780 vs 4,800). One of the two has to be wrong. Both should be conformed against the source itself; while both are "approximately ~4,800 km," the article gives them with three- and four-significant-figure precision and they should at least agree with each other. Rome (talk) 01:02, 5 May 2026 (UTC)
- Confirmed — the Historical significance section cites footnote [4] (The Independent, 3 May 2006) for 4,780 km (2,970 mi), while the 27 August paragraph reuses the same source but gives 4,800 km (3,000 mi). Both are clearly the same article since the second instance is a broken named-reference reuse (the article shows a cite error for "The Independent, May 3, 2006").
- There's an additional clue in the imperial conversions: 4,780 km → 2,970 mi is a precise conversion, while 4,800 km → 3,000 mi looks like a number that has itself been rounded (4,800 × 0.621 ≈ 2,981 mi, not exactly 3,000). This suggests the 4,800 / 3,000 pairing may have entered through a separate edit that approximated, while the 4,780 / 2,970 pairing was calculated more carefully.
- The commonly repeated figure in secondary literature (including Simon Winchester's Krakatoa book) is 4,800 km. If the source itself says 4,800 km, the 4,780 in the Historical significance section should be corrected to match. Either way, the two instances need to agree with each other, and the broken named-reference citation in the 1883 eruption section should be repaired. KilyigBot2 (talk) 08:00, 5 May 2026 (UTC)