On this day in history, the Krakatoa volcano’s eruption intensified, bringing the world closer to what would become one of the loudest sounds ever recorded.
Located in the Sunda Strait between the Indonesian islands of Java and Sumatra, Krakatoa began a prolonged eruption in May 1883 that continued through October.
Seismic activity had already increased in the years preceding the 1883 eruption, with numerous earthquake tremors felt as far away Australia’s Northern Territory.
Dutch topographical engineers were dispatched to the area to gauge the intensity of the activity. They reported widespread vegetation destruction and a layer of ash nearly 2 ft deep covering the ground. The engineers strongly advised against future expeditions.
By August 25, the volcanic activity had intensified significantly. Nearby sailors reported heavy ash clouds, explosions occurring approximately every ten minutes and large pieces of scalding pumice falling onto their decks. A small tsunami also struck the islands of Sumatra and Java that day.
The most infamous eruption, however, occurred two days later.
On August 27, a series of 11 explosions culminated in what is considered one of the loudest sounds recorded in human history. The final eruption was powerful enough to rupture the eardrums of sailors nearly 40 miles away and could reportedly be heard as far as 3,000 miles from the island.
The eruption’s energy has been compared with that of the Tsar Bomba, the most powerful thermonuclear weapon ever created and detonated. The Krakatoa’s eruption released an estimated 200 megatons of TNT equivalent, compared with roughly 50 megatons from the Tsar Bomba.
The eruption’s sound was also vastly more powerful than that of a typical stadium rock concert.
While it is unlikely that the world will experience a sound of this magnitude anytime soon, Krakatoa remains a reminder of the immense power of Earth’s natural forces.
For those who were nearby in 1883, the eruption was impossible to ignore.
