The Loudest Sound in History
August 27, 1883
On 27 August 1883 the volcanic island of Krakatoa, between Java and Sumatra, blew itself apart. The final explosion was heard on the island of Rodrigues in the Indian Ocean, nearly 4,800 km away, where a police chief reportedly thought it was the sound of distant heavy guns. Barometers around the world recorded the pressure wave passing several times. The eruption and its tsunamis killed more than 36,000 people, and the ash it threw into the sky produced vivid red sunsets around the world for months.