Krakatoa Erupts: Explosion Heard 3,000 Miles Away
Krakatoa exploded on August 27, 1883, with a force equivalent to 200 megatons of TNT, roughly 13,000 times the Hiroshima bomb. The loudest of four eruptions was heard 3,000 miles away in Rodrigues Island near Mauritius, making it the loudest sound in recorded history. The explosion collapsed the volcanic island into a caldera and generated tsunamis up to 120 feet tall that killed over 36,000 people along the coastlines of Java and Sumatra. Ash reached an altitude of 50 miles and circled the globe, producing vivid red sunsets worldwide for over a year. Global temperatures dropped by an average of 1.2 degrees Celsius. The eruption was one of the first global news events, reported by telegraph within hours.
August 27, 1883
143 years ago
Key Figures & Places
What Else Happened on August 27
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