Rainfall of Death: Krakatoa

0:10 oh, hey there, oh hey there. Kate, how are? You I'm okay. How are you? I have a cold that is very evident in in your sound. You're doing okay. It's pretty awesome though it's pretty awesome though yeah, um, I. I kind of hate functioning with a cold because you look like death, you sound like death, yeah, um, but you don't feel like death, you feel bad right but you don't feel like death and so like you still gotta go to work on monday and gotta keep, keep on keeping. well, life doesn't stop for when you're sick. Right, all of that would be great.

0:50 When I was doing facials full time, I would have my front desk staff call all of my clients that day. If you were sick? Yeah, and say hey, she is coming in. She's going to be wearing a mask. Are you okay with her working on you? And nine out of ten they were like yeah, that's fine, but I will have the occasional no reschedule, which I get exactly. Um, so I'll probably have to do that for for monday. Hey, people were podcasting on saturday um, so I'll probably have them call on on Monday and make sure that I mean I'm not doing. I think I might have one facial on Monday, otherwise it's all massage but, so I'm not super close all the time, but I still work on their neck and shoulders and you're close enough and you know, obviously germs can transfer or whatever.

1:41 So, I mean, I get that so but I would, I would assume you know, obviously, being in the profession you are, you have to wash your hands a lot and all that stuff Right. Yeah, I figured. But uh, um, I know you have a question for me, but I just wanted to say something really quick. Okay. I wanted to apologize to you about a word that I always thought it was a certain way but it wasn't, so I believe it was in Nero he was playing. What was the title of that? one Oprah of Death. That's right, I always thought it was called a lyre or a lyre, and you called it a lyre.

2:23 The musical instrument yes, and I happened to listen to an audiobook about medieval stuff yeah and they mentioned a lyre and I'm like, oh, maybe kate's right, I I always thought it was a leer. Yeah, I, that's how I guess I learned it or something. I have no idea. Yeah, but I've heard that way. So I wanted to apologize for trying to correct you on that. But I mean, I was pronouncing Mel Blanc as Mel Blanc, and so that is true. Hey, we are not professionals. No, we are buffoons. Oh, did we? By the way, did we say that Welcome? to History Buffoons. Hi, I'm Kate. And I'm Bradley, we're. History. Buffoons, I'd like to say we'll get better at that, because we say that every time.

3:07 We do that. Maybe by the 25th episode. Here's to hoping, here's to hoping yeah, we're living up to our name, that's for darn sure. I mean, we named ourselves Buffoons for a reason. Yes, we weren't just making it clever. So we both have a beer that we've both tried before, that we've tried before and we liked. I haven't tried this one, no, this one is new for me. Oh, okay, I've had Third Space, which is the brewery, but no, this one I have not had yet. Okay, what is it? It's called First Trx West Coast IPA and it's got a mountain with snow on it.

3:47 The Trax. The Trax. But no, yeah, so it looked interesting and sounds delicious being a West Coast IPA. And I have one that I've tried recently on the podcast called Fresh Coast. Yeah, you did like that one. And it's a juicy pale ale from three sheeps from. Sheboygan Wisconsin. All right, and so I knew I liked it. So here we go Cheers. Cheers. I had to take a sip of mine right away because I dropped it when I got out of the fridge. Was it a little fuzzy? It was Fizzy Fuzzy.

4:29 Both, and then I spilled a little on my shirt, my bad. Can't take you anywhere. You're not wrong. Okay, so that's not bad. So, bradley, yes, kate, you have hearing loss, I do. How's that going for you? What? If you could speak into the good microphone. I mean, wait, it really kind of sucks, yeah, but it's really strange. It almost like picks its moments where I can. I think that's called selective hearing. Well, let me finish. It picks its moments where I can hear. I think that's called selective hearing. Well, let me finish. It picks up moments where I can hear just fucking great, where all of a sudden you would be in a different room but an adjoining room or something and you'd be like blah, blah, blah.

5:17 I'm like what? And you're like how would you hear that? I can hear stuff like that once in a while, but sometimes we're not. I don't know. Seven, I can hear stuff like that once in a while, but sometimes we're not. I don't know. Seven feet away, six feet away, whatever this is and it'd be like what I didn't hear, what you said, my addiction also isn't great, Well you know, I mean it can't be perfect, I guess, but no, it's just. It's weird because I feel like I should. I mean playing the drums as long as I have and being young and stupid and not wearing ear protection while playing the drums. Well, and you went to tons of concerts too, didn't you? I used to go to a lot of concerts and I was never the guy who liked to be up right next to the stage Because I liked to watch the bands.

6:00 I never wanted to be one in a mosh pit or anything. You didn't want to watch their nostrils from down below look at that guy's. He waxes but um, but nonetheless I wax nathan's nose yeah, I know you told me that yeah, he, he likes the um. he doesn't like the actual like process of it. No, of course not. It hurts, but he likes the after effects. Well, that's good yeah. But no, even being anywhere within the venue and they're all usually small, even stadium ones. It's freaking loud in there, yeah, so it affects your hearing quite a bit.

6:41 Well, I'm going to tell you about the loudest sound ever recorded. Oh really, yes, your hearing quite a bit. Well, I'm going to tell you about the loudest sound ever recorded oh really, yes, it is the 1883. It sounds like I'm not excited to be here. I really am. I'm very happy to be doing this right now. I sound like death yeah, I mean, maybe I I can pitch you up a bit. Oh God, you sound like a chipmunk or something. That'd be pretty great. No, we understand You're a little under the weather, as they say, so we get that you're excited to be here. It might not come across in an audio medium.

7:24 So, side note, because tangent, um, because tangent, there's an episode of friends, okay, where phoebe she makes me laugh because she's just such a funny character. Phoebe gets a cold and she was asked to do like a music video, okay, of her, her song, smelly cat. Oh, that's right. Smelly Cat, Smelly Cat yeah. It was something like that, and when they recorded it, she was sick and she sounded amazing. And then, when she wasn't sick, she sounded horrible Yep. And so she was going around kissing all of the other friends in the apartment to try to get their germs to get sick again yeah, I do remember that episode actually vaguely okay, so the loudest sound ever recorded and you said it was from 18.

8:14 What? 1883 did they actually have recording equipment to record it? um, it was probably more along the lines of personal testimony. Oh, okay, and like the effects of what happened, I see okay. So not actually recorded. It was documented, yeah, documented yeah, gotcha, but it was the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa. Krakatoa. Where is that? So Krakatoa is a volcanic island in Indonesia. Oh, that's right okay. So it's in a country in Southeast Asia. Because yeah, I've heard of Krakatoa before, but yeah, so it sits in the Sundra Strait and there's like little tiny islands nearby, so is it like one of many islands.

8:59 Krakatoa is the island but there are several around it as well, gotcha, okay, and there's two larger islands, one on the east side and one on the west side, okay, one is Sumatra, sumatra, and the other is Java. Java Like coffee. Yeah, oh or JavaScript. You're a nerd. So Krakatoa, jesus Christ. Or am I a nerd because I knew what you're talking about? Yeah, what the hell that ain't right so krakatoa actually has three cones, really, yeah, so the first one is perbowi wotan or perbowi wotan tomato, tomato it is the northernmost cone and it's 120 meters tall, which is also 390 feet oh wow, that's pretty good size, I guess yes, the middle cone is danann Nan Da Nan, lieutenant Da Nan, you beat me to it.

10:04 Middle cone is 450 meters, so quite a bit taller oh wow. At 1,480 feet. Okay. So yeah, that definitely got a little taller. And then Whoa. There's ricotta. Like cheese. The ricotta cone is the southernmost, okay, and it's 820 meters or 2690 feet oh, is that? wow, that's over double the previous one. Yes, oh, yes so in the months preceding the eruption in 1883, krakatoa had like a steady increase in seismic activity. Okay, um, there were tremors that were felt from from the volcano all the way to Australia, which is approximately 1,300 miles away.

10:51 Wow, yeah, really yeah, jesus, isn't that crazy. That's really far to feel that Okay. Yeah, so some activity happened on May 20th 1883. There were Strombolian eruptions. Strombolian Mm-hmm. What is that? Isn't that like a pasta dish? Stromboli, stromboli. I always think of Pinocchio. Why? Because that's the guy who made him. That's Geppetto. Let me finish Not who made him, who him? Uh, be in the in the marionette show oh, that was his name. Yeah, interesting. Well, strombolian eruptions consist of intermittent explosive bursts which eject pyro class, which I'll get to, okay, as high as hundreds of feet into the air like fireworks.

11:45 Oh dear, okay, okay. So these eruptions were um pretty frequent, coming from perbowi wotan okay and um, that was the first one you mentioned. Yeah, that was the sauce, yes, and the northern most right. So ash plumes reach an altitude above six kilometers, which is about three and a half miles oh geez and the detonations were audible in batavia, jakarta, over 160 kilometers or 100 miles away. Jesus christ. Um, that had to be they could be, they could be, um, they heard, uh, rattling of doors and windows and stuff and this isn't even the loudest one yet, right? Oh no, no, this is just like.

12:26 This is just the what would they call it? The introduction. An investigative scientific party went to the island on May 26th and they saw blanketed fine white dust with periwoton erupting at regular intervals approximately five to ten minutes apart. Wow, so, while the frequency of eruptions appeared to diminish, so if they were five to ten minutes apart, did they have to get to the hospital? I was so going to talk. I was so going to just mention something about being dilated, but I was like no, that's not appropriate. And of course you, you read my mind.

13:09 Essentially so sorry. Some explosions um remained really, really loud, even though the just the eruptions were starting to diminish, sure, um, but they were still propelling pumice up into the wind and the air and so a large crater, nearly 900 meters in diameter, which is about a half a mile wow vented plumes of steam, okay, okay, and then nothing, silence so like did they think it was done then? I mean so we're talking between end of May, mid-June Sure. So they were silenced for about two weeks. Okay.

13:49 So whether or not they thought they were done, I don't know Gotcha. So June 16th, there was another surge. Oh, Loud explosions vibrated through the air and a thick black cloud covered the island for five days. Ooh, really, wow, that's a long time. By June 19th, the eruptions were regaining intensity. Okay. And then, on June 24th, there was a major shift in the wind and it dispersed the clouds and what was seen were two distinct ash columns rising from Krakatoa Wow, extinct ash columns rising from Krakatoa Wow. So, most notably Perboi Wotan, the summit cone was gone.

14:31 So it like blew up, basically it obliterated Wow. Yeah. And the eruptions appear to have shifted to new vents forming between Perboi, wotan and Danian, the middle cone. Did you? I'm sorry. Did you mention how close each one was to each other, or no? I did not, but they're all, they all. It's all one big volcano they just have different cones. Yeah, three openings essentially, yeah, okay so the violence of these eruptions caused unusually high tides, sure, and forcing anchored ships to secure themselves with, like, additional chains. Oh wow, they're like. Hey, we're there, sees rocking us a little bit more than usual so earthquakes were felt in nearby towns such as anier and banton on the island of java what is was there?

15:20 is there people who live on krakatoa? then at this time, I don't remember reading that, but Jakarta Java. Those are settlements and whatnot. Yes, okay, but yeah, I don't recall reading that. That's a good question. So throughout July eruptions steadily intensified, and then in early August a Dutch engineer, captain Fersenar, fersenar, fersenar. Is that his first name? No last name, Okay, just making sure. He surveyed Krakatoa, so he documented three major ash columns, the newest originating from Danann, and it obscured the western portion of the island.

16:09 So he counted steam plumes emanating from at least 11 other vents. Wow, and they were concentrated between danann and rakita and upon landing he found a half meter thick ash layer okay and nothing but tree stumps oh so like obliterated the trees too, yeah, and then holy crap and then captain furzanar is like I'm gonna see myself out I'm not sticking around here. No, he was like sayonara krakatoa it sounds like a really weird song or something. On August 22nd 1883, the Irish merchant vessel, the Charles Ball, was sailing northwest through the Sundress Strait on its way to China, when Captain Watson noticed something chilling.

16:59 See when I'm sick, I sound really great, right. I sound so great. Yeah, it's all nice and deep. Charles Ball encountered an anomaly the sea turned a milky white. What All around the ship. Okay. And then there was an aura-like silver glow in the sky which continued for days, aura like silver glow in the sky which continued for for days. And you know, the sky and the ocean, they bounce light off of each other, so I'm sure there's something sure to that effect, right? Um, but yeah, obviously never seen before. No, so by august 25th, as they approach java head, which is a prominent cape um the coast of Java, the sky above the land was thick with dark clouds and flashes of lightning.

17:51 The next day they could only see a small portion of the northeastern tip of Krakatoa and the rest was obscured by a dense black cloud. Okay, but on a positive note. On a positive note, the weather remained clear. Well, I mean, that sounds lovely. And there was a lovely southwesterly wind, but on a positive note, the weather remained clear. Well, I mean, that sounds lovely and there was a lovely southwesterly wind. What was the speed of the? wind, five miles. I don't know. Should we ask Mary Poppins? Yes. She tends to fly in when the wind changes. Jesus. I'm dying Speaking of musicals. What did you find for your mom today?

18:32 Oh, I was at an antique store. Yeah. And I found her the original 1956 vinyl of Carousel. Because that's a musical right. It is a musical yeah. Yeah, so she was pretty happy, it was $9. And it was 20% off, 20% off. You said that yeah. Yeah, no, it was great, that's awesome. Yeah, she was happy. Good, you said that. Yeah, yeah, no, it's great, that's awesome. Yeah, she was happy good now if I can just remember to mail it to her. Um so, mom, if you're listening to this and you don't have it yet, please say something please send me a friendly reminder text so on august 26th around 1 pm, the volcano entered a terrifying new phase.

19:14 Oh dear, a monstrous black ash cloud towered 27 kilometers into the sky. It's about 17 miles. Holy crap, really. Yeah, that is a high-ass. That's a cloud, that's an ash cloud. That is a. That's a big ash cloud. The eruptions became near-cont near continuous, with explosions every 10 minutes. And these people are still just anchored off the island. Good lord. So it actually sounded like rapid gunfire. I bet. Following crackling and hissing sounds resembling a big fire. Sure, yeah. So by 4.15, the Charles Ball that that ship was just 10 miles south of volcano and they are one of the closest eyewitnesses accounts.

20:01 Okay, okay, krakatoa erupted, spewing blinding rain within a tornado windstorm. So mary poppins is nowhere to be seen. No, she's flying away. Yeah, so the sky was filled with red-hot ashes and the wind was picking up from the west-southwest and Captain Watson, fearing for his ship's safety, ordered the sails shortened. Sure, okay. By 5 pm, the detonations were heard across the entire island of Java. Wow, as the sun went down, a thick black layer of smoke engulfed the sky. Okay, and the charles ball went into darkness. I mean it had to be pretty dark with all that ash cloud in the sky right yes, yes, very, very, very dark because you said it was getting nighttime at this point also that yes, I mean yeah, you couldn't see anything no so hot pumice stones began to fall, forcing the crew to take cover, and the barrage continued for an hour before reducing to smaller stones, ash and dust.

21:03 Oh, thank God. Yeah. At least we got it done with the big ones. So were they like because you said they're like hot stones and stuff like could they set like their ship on fire kind of hot, or is it just they were just hot from being erupted, or I mean? it's possible that they were on fire, but they're also like traveling through the air at high speeds, yeah. So the ship finding it hard to navigate, captain watson slowed down his ship and they were somewhere near the aneur lighthouse of java. So, though visibility was poor, they they weren't sure that they were actually like near shore. Oh sure, um.

21:43 So sand and stones continued to fall and the sky above the island was full of explosions and flashes, and every direction around the ship crackled with lightning. Jeez, it's like Thor was mad. He was so mad. It's like I'm pissed off man. At 530 in the evening, waves a few feet high began pounding the coastlines of Java and Sumatra. So it was basically creating a mini tsunami kind of thing and Sumatra. So it was basically creating a mini tsunami kind of thing. So these waves, likely caused by steam explosions, continued battering the shores throughout the night.

22:23 Ships within a 20 kilometer radius, or about 12 miles of the volcano, reported relentless rain of ash with scorching pumice stones up to 10 centimeters about four inches in diameter, raining down on their decks. Could you imagine getting hit by one of those? Ouch no kidding, it's like Armageddon all over again. I'm on point with these references. Oh my God, you are A smaller. I guess I'm getting smarter when I get sick, I don't know. No, let's not get ahead of ourselves. Yeah, I guess I'm getting smarter when I get sick, I don't know. Let's not get ahead of ourselves. A smaller tsunami struck the shores of Java and Sumatra between 7 and 8 pm, impacting areas 40 kilometers away, or about 25 miles by 11 pm.

23:13 Krakatoa was seen when they were 11 miles off to the northwest. Okay, they witnessed chains of fire erupting from the island and steams of white-hot fire rolling away from its southwest end. Jeez, the back end, if you would. Yeah. The back end. Oh, that was great. The wind was hot, choking, sulfurousous, carrying the stench of burning cinders. Some of the falling debris felt like red hot iron, and even the lead line used to measure the depth of the water yeah came up warm from the bottom of the sea I don't know if you even saw this, but obviously, being an island, it's one big volcano with three different spouts.

23:58 How deep was the island? I guess I mean the water there, because it obviously has to go down to the floor right um, but yeah, I would imagine, because that's building up through there, that had to heat that water up pretty good yeah, I don't know what that's just crazy, yeah and they're 11 miles out too, right. So I mean that's pretty far and that would probably mean it's also deeper in that area. Yeah right, wow, yeah. So from midnight to 4 am on the 27th, the charles ball looked to be in hell. A choking wind howled between the southwest and west-southwest. The darkness was broken only by the constant, terrifying roar and thunder of Krakatoa's eruptions.

24:39 Jeez, the ship's masts and yards were glowing with an electrical phenomenon known as St Amos Fire. That's what that like the movie. Yeah, but I've never seen it, have you. I've never actually seen that either. Yeah, an electrical phenomenon? Yeah, but I've never seen it, have you? I've never actually seen that either. Yeah, an electrical phenomenon yeah, no. I didn't know. So on August 27th, the unthinkable happened. August 27th, you said Was it unthinkable, because the months of foreshadowing. I mean, it was building up to it. I had no idea this was going to happen. This took me by complete surprise.

25:20 Four huge eruptions ripped through. Krakatoa, like bad beans, beans beans, the magical fruit, the more you eat, the more you toot. The more you toot, the better you feel. So eat, the more you toot, the more you toot, the better you feel, so eat beans with every meal. I'm getting warm. I am very warm right now. It's the laughing so the first detonation um you said four of them. Right, four yeah so the first one happened at 5 30 in the morning from per boat bowie wilton yeah, that would wake you up, I mean, you didn't want an alarm that today too bad I got you um, so it sent a tsunami surging towards the coastal city of talok batang okay which is now known as bandar lampung of sumatra I kind of like the first name better, but okay.

26:17 At 6.44 am, danan erupted, triggering a tsunami that grew in both eastward and westward directions. Wow, Like the Red Sea. I was going to say so. It's literally just going both ways. Yeah, just like the Red. Sea. I mean mouses, mouses, is that you? Yeah, just like the red seat. I mean Moses, moses, is that you, moses? By 6 am the eruption subsided somewhat and a faint outline of the Java shore became visible to the sailors of the Charles Ball. Okay. And they passed the Java lighthouse at 8 am, raising their signal flags but receiving no response.

26:57 Oh dear. Sailing close enough to the city to see the houses, they saw no signs of life. So I mean I can't imagine they just abandoned I was going to say ship, but abandoned island. I mean, would that have killed people, with how big the explosion was? Yes, holy crap. Around 10, 15 am. They pass within half a mile of Button Island. Button. I tried to find this island. Was it a cute? island Cute as a button yeah. I still don't understand that saying, but anyways, make it one of our idioms. I will work on that.

27:38 So button island does not exist Did you say butt island Button. Okay, I'm sick. I understand. I've been trying to do my best today to not. Button island. Okay. I could not find it, so I'm wondering if it disappeared in the tsunami. But okay, I mean, I guess that's possible. Yeah, I have no idea, I don't know how big of an island it was and the explosion clearly was huge, or maybe like that other place. They renamed it and I didn't read what it was. I suppose that's very possible. So here the weather seemed calmer. Um, no ash or cinders, okay, um, but they had like a glassy sea, but it was very short-lived.

28:23 Oh really, a tremendous explosion blew from krakatoa, now over 30 miles away. The crew witnessed four massive walls of water. Water surging in, completely engulfing the southern tip of Button Island and rising halfway up the northern and eastern sides. Jeez, the waves were also seen crashing over the Java shore. Sure, another monstrous blast was heard approximately 3,110 kilometers away, or 1,930 miles, oh my God. In Perth, australia. They heard it all the way there Mm-hmm, holy crap. And even reached the distant Indian Ocean island of Rodriguez.

29:06 Okay, and that is about 4,800 kilometers away, or approximately 3,000 miles away, near Madagascar, holy crap. Which means for us Americans who don't know geography. And or kilometers or such. Yeah, the distance would be similar from Boston Massachusetts to LA. I figured that's what you're going to say. Holy crap, yes, they heard the blast. 3, massachusetts to LA. I figured that's what you're going to say. Holy crap, yes, they heard the blast 3,000 miles away. That is amazing. So the explosion was initially mistaken for a cannon fire by those who heard it.

29:46 Well, sure, because you wouldn't think you're hearing a volcano from 3,000 miles away. Wow, the blast was recorded as approximately 180 decibels. 100? Wow, at 100 miles away. Wow. The blast was recorded as approximately 180 decibels 100, wow, at 100 miles away oh my god, really. Yes, that's the decibels at 100 miles away do? Do they have any speculation or guess as to what it? What would have been like there? so I tried to do some research on this because I actually read somewhere like it was 300 decibels. But there comes a point when sound is so loud that you actually don't hear it. Right, Right right.

30:28 So the decibels only go up so high. I think it was like 190 for the human ear. That sounds about right. And then, like the sound just gets sucked into each other and into itself, cause what is? what? Like we're just having a conversation. I have no idea what the answer to this question will be, but what would this like decibel level be at? Oh gosh. It's been a long time since I sold hearing aids. Oh, that's right, I forgot you used to do that. Yeah, all right. Yeah, I couldn't even speculate at this point. You're going to look it up, I kind of want to Just like normal conversation. Yeah so.

31:11 I was going to guess around like 40 to 60. It says a normal conversation typically registers around 60 decibels. Okay so, good guess. Yeah, it says most sources consider a normal conversation to fall between 50 to 65. Yeah so hearing safety Sounds above 85 decibels are considered potentially harmful to hearing with prolonged exposure. So just imagine all those concerts and how loud my drums are and everything exactly there we go um. So yeah, so 60. And you said they're 180 decibels at 100 miles away so I mean that's three times what we're talking about, and that happened 100 miles away yes, fuck, yeah, that's loud that is loud.

31:56 I couldn't imagine being anywhere closer to that, because that would be insane so each of these eruptions unleashed tsunamis of course estimated to be over 30 meters high, or 98 feet. Okay. With one wave, the wind shifted sharply to the southwest and the sky was quickly obscured by dense smoke. At 1041 am, a massive landslide ripped off half of Rakita's cone. Oh, really. Along with the remaining northern portion of the island, triggering the final explosion. Okay. So by 1130 am the darkness had become so thick it was almost tangible.

32:38 Wow, yeah yeah it's like dust hitting you in the face oh god, it'd be gross the charles ball was forced to sail under reduced sail. Sure, just before the sky closed in, they had spotted two other ships oh, okay the norham castle and the sir robert sail to the north and northwest, and he ordered side lights lit to make their own ship more visible, sure. And they stationed lookouts at the front of the ship and instructed his mates to like keep watch. And on both sides of the vessel right, the torrential rain resumed, this time pummeling the ship with not just stones and sand but also thick, sticky mud well, yeah, because it's falling through the ash right yes, so that's oh god that's gotta be pretty gross so the situation became so dire that a crew member was dedicated solely to cleaning off the mud from the binnacle compass to ensure navigation.

33:39 Oh wow, yeah, by 12, the atmosphere was like a thick, nasty, disgusting soup. I was going to say it's got to be like soup. This must have been broccoli. Oh, broccoli cheddar sounds so good. That's the second time you said that today, oh, what was the other time? Uh, we, we went to the store to get something and you had said we passed us oh yeah, broccoli cheddar, yeah, like, oh, that sounded like a yeah, okay. So crew members standing side by side each other were forced to feel their way around the decks because they were so lost in the dense fog they couldn't see each other. Wow, so the rainfall of depth nope the rainfall of death continued until 2 pm, when the mud finally stopped falling um.

34:31 Can rainfall of death be the episode? title the rainfall of death. I think I mean, I like putting death in titles. Yeah, that might, that might be it. Except for we don't want to get tagged on YouTube or whatever Potentially. I don't know if they do that. Do you think that's what happened though? I have no idea, I don't know. Anyways, we had trouble uploading the Oprah of death on YouTube. For some reason it set it to private, and that's why I just had to click on something in it. Okay, fixed it, I guess. Who knows? Um so, under the roar of the volcano, the flashes of lightning, um, there was a fiery glow above Krakatoa, and shortly after 2 pm the Charles Ball was finally able to see the lower yards of the ship's masts.

35:18 Okay, like they couldn't even see their posts in front of them. I mean think of how thick that was to not even be able to see that. That's crazy. The sky, however, remained heavy and dark, with occasional sprinkles of sand falling, and though a significant distance away now about 70 miles away the ship looked like it had been encased in cement. I suppose, though, like you said, with that rain mixing up with all that ash and stuff in the air, yes, oh man. Yeah. So the eruption subsided rapidly and krakatoa fell silent by the morning of august 28th. However, minor mud eruptions continued sporadically until october of 1883.

36:03 Wow for until october so like the beginning of, like the. The foreshadowing events started in what I say may I believe that's end of may through october that's crazy and by october only 30 of the original island remained I was gonna ask so. With being such a violent explosion, eruption, whatever, it had to have destroyed some of it. So yeah, how much did it say? How much of the island remained? Did you just say that? um 30 30 percent remained, wow I mean that's losing 70. That's quite a bit, yeah um, I talk a little bit more towards the end about, like, what it looks like now.

36:47 Oh so, remember those pyroclastic flows that I mentioned. Yes, they are superheated avalanches of ash and gas that surge out of the volcano at speeds above 2,575 kilometers per hour or 715 meters per second. Holy crap, it's a little speedy. I'd say that's even faster than you drive Really. Really, the energy released by the eruption is estimated to be an equivalent of 200 megatons of TNT. Jesus.

37:29 Roughly four times more powerful than the Tsar Bomba. What now T-S-A-R? the. Tsar and then B-O-M-B-A. Bomba. What is that? It is the most powerful nuclear weapon ever detonated. Oh really. So four times that. Oh, my God oh my God. It has a yield of about 50 megatons, making it approximately 3,000 times more powerful than the bomb dropped at Hiroshima Jesus, and this ranks the 1883 Krakatoa eruption as one of the most powerful eruptions in all of history. Wow. So back to the decibels I mentioned.

38:09 Yes. So, like I said, it reached about 180 decibels 100 miles away. Exactly so. This wasn't just a loud noise, no, physically destructive. Well, yeah. Sailors aboard the RMS Norm Castle, anchored near Sumatra, suffered ruptured eardrums from the blast. That would freaking hurt. In Batavia, jakarta, on Java, 160 kilometers away, the airwaves, shattered windows, cracked walls. Oh, geez. Your house would not handle this. I hope Krakatoa moves over to the new neighborhood then Blows up no, my, oh, my God, yeah, this thing would have been obliterated.

38:56 Yes, it's all your plaster walls plaster, I tell you so the impact wasn't confined to the immediate vicinity? No, it sounds that way. There was a pressure wave, okay, like that rippled on like a global pond, okay, yeah. So the wave circled the earth three and a half times Okay, bouncing back and forth between Krakatoa and its antipodal point, so any point on earth the antipodal point is diametrically opposite it. Oh okay, diametrically opposite it.

39:38 Oh okay. So basically you're on this side of the planet, you bounce of the complete opposite and then back. Yes, gotcha. So it circled the whole earth three and a half times right between krakatoa and the antipodal point. Yeah, it was seven times over five days. Yes, yeah, wow, yeah, jesus so the eruption triggered massive tsunamis. Entire islands were submerged maybe, but I was well, I was going to suggest that earlier but I mean that did. They did what sail by it prior to the final explosion, so maybe it was engulfed. So one account from the Lawton, which is a ship anchored near Tlaloc Belong, said the crew watched as a monstrous wave surged towards the shore, swallowing the town whole in a single motion.

40:30 So it just wiped it out. Wiped it out, wow. Captained by Johan Lindemann, the crew survived the subsequent tsunami, when the captain steered the ship head on into the wave. So that's the only way they got through it. That's the only way they got through it. I feel like To make a T, essentially with the wave. They tried to do that in the Perfect storm too did they? It didn't work. It's been a really long time since I've seen it, mostly because I cry at the end and I really don't want to cry during movies, so I just don't watch it. That's understandable but if I do need a good cry, you know what my movie go-to movie is. What's that? My girl? Oh, where he gets stung by bees yep, dan akroyd, and uh, jamie lee, curtis I forgot they were both in there yeah I I probably macaulay culkin, I don't remember the main v.

41:20 I don't remember vedas. I always forget her. Anna clumsley there it is, chumsley clumsley, chumsley, chumsley, I think I don't know it's one of those, but yes, I haven't seen that movie, probably since shortly after it came out. Yeah. Very rarely do I feel like I need to cry, it just happens. But that is my go-to crying movie. Anyway, moving on, yeah, move along. Okay, so faraway ships as distant as South Africa felt these tsunamis. Really. Mm-hmm. Victims' bodies were found floating at sea for months afterwards. That's not surprising. The waves are believed to have been caused by these gigantic pyroclastic flows.

42:03 Sure, and they were the avalanches of action gas and crashing into the ocean Jeez. Bunches of action gas and crashing into the ocean, jeez. So each volcanic explosion triggered these flows, displacing massive volumes of seawater and creating these deadly tsunamis. Yeah, the town of Merak bore the brunt of this, succumbing to a tsunami a staggering 50 yards high. Jesus a staggering 50 yards high. Jesus, jesus. The aftershocks of the eruption extended even further. Similar waves were detected on tidal gauges as far away as the English Channel.

42:47 Good Lord, yeah, that's pretty far. And these weren't remnants of the initial tsunamis, but rather the result of concussive airwaves that circled the globe several times. Oh, okay, and that is still strong enough to be picked up by the instruments five days later, good lord. Yeah, so while the tsunamis were devastating, they weren't the only devastating aspect. Right, there's other factors in it the pyroclastic flows. Yeah, so while the tsunamis were devastating, they weren't the only devastating aspect Right. There's other factors in it. The pyroclastic flows claimed about 10% of the eruption's victims. Oh, really Wow that many so, racing from the Sundra Strait at 100 kilometers per hour, or about 62 miles an hour.

43:30 These flows traveled 40 kilometers, or about 25 miles, reaching the shores of southern sumatra. Entire villages were incinerated, all vegetation was was ash sure, and ships like the lawden and the whie, located further away from the eruption, were battled by strong winds and tephra, which is volcanic ash and rock fragments. Jeez, yes, we do have one eyewitness account. It was captured by A Scarth in 1999. Okay. He paints a picture of someone who was in a pyroclastic flow.

44:15 That had to be pretty gruesome Quote. Suddenly it became pitch dark. The last thing I saw was the ash being pushed up through the cracks in the floorboards like a fountain. I turned to my husband and heard him say in despair when is the knife? I will cut all our wrists and then we shall be released from our suffering sooner. Jesus, I felt people rolling over me. No sound came from my husband or children. I remember thinking I want to go outside, but I could not straighten my back.

44:57 I toddled, doubled up to the door. I forced myself through the opening. I tripped and fell. I realized the ash was so hot and I tried to protect my face with my hands. The hot bite of the pumice prickled like needles. Without thinking, I walked, hopefully, forward. Had I been in my right mind, I would have understood what a dangerous thing it was to plunge into the hellish darkness. I ran up against branches and did not even think of avoiding them. I entangled myself more and more. My hair got caught up. I noticed for the first time that my skin was hanging off everywhere, jesus, thick and moist from the ash stuck to it.

45:40 Thinking it must be dirty, I wanted to pull bits of skin off but, that was still more painful. I did not know I had been burnt. End quote oh my God. Isn't that awful. That sounds just terrible. Yeah, good Lord. So the pyroclastic flows moved across water on a cushion of like superheated steam, okay, reaching distances up to 80 kilometers from the volcano, or about 50 miles Jeez. Deposits from these flows have been found on nearby islands. These flows have been found on nearby islands. The eruption also generated an estimate 20 cubic kilometers of tephra, raining down ash for thousands of kilometers and blanketing the sky for months. Yeah, I bet the 1880 eruption of Krakatoa had the unholy trinity Pyroclastic flows, volcanic ash and tsunamis.

46:35 And I imagine there's some, obviously, eruptions that don't get all those three because they're just not big enough or whatever. But yeah, that one was just so huge it's like here's your cocktail of shit yep coming your way so entire regions of banton, which is about 80 kilometers south of all the volcano okay we're rendered uninhabitable lush islands to come to ash, debris and everything eventually reverted back to a jungle. Okay, and actually today it's called the ujung kulon national park oh, there you go, happy ending so official records from dutch authorities documented a death toll exceeding 36 000 people.

47:15 Holy crap, the island of sebessy, just north of krakatoa. Krakatoa was completely wiped off the map, okay with no survivors of its 3 000 inhabitants oh dear, wow yeah the geographic landscape was also dramatically reshaped. Yeah, where krakatoa stood, only a fraction remained, and that was the southern third. That was the biggest is that just because that was the probably the biggest? one. So there was. Yeah, I think that was what rakita, I think I think that's what you said, yeah the eruption tore away significant portion of the Rakituk Cone, leaving behind sheer cliffs hundreds of meters high.

47:56 The northern two-thirds of the island vanished entirely, with only a lone rocky inlet called Bosun's Rock, and it remained as a fragment of the former Danann Cone. Which is the middle one. Yeah, the amount of ejected material dramatically altered the ocean floor as well, sure so. Estimates suggest that the cubic kilometers of volcanic debris blanketed over a million square kilometers of seabed, filling in a basin that once surrounded the mountain. Wow, nearby islands like Verlatin. Verlatin. Uh-huh and Leng grew in size due to the deposited ash Okay, while the western part of the remaining Rakata saw an increase in land mass oh wow.

48:47 However, much of this new land was temporarily and it was, it was temporary and gradually eroded by the ocean, sure. Volcanic ash, however, remained like a defining characteristic of the of the geography there, sure so. The eruptions effects even created ephemeral islands. Two sandbanks named after naval officers who investigated them were briefly transformed into islands by the settling ash Okay. However, these were also like fleeting landmasses, and they were eventually taken back by the sea. Right Jeez. The eruption also created a phenomenon known as volcanic winter winter.

49:35 The global average temperatures in the northern hemisphere dropped by 0.4 degrees celsius or 0.72 degrees fahrenheit during the following summer. 0.72 I mean, so not much, no, it's certainly, if I mean that still affects stuff, though yeah even if it's just under a degree. But yeah that's crazy so the cooling effect can be attributed to the eruption's massive injection of sulfur dioxide right into the atmosphere. Yeah makes sense. So winds then carry these particles around the globe, leading to a surge in sulfuric acid, concentrating with high-altitude cirrus clouds, which are those thin wispy clouds. Those thin wispy clouds yeah, the sulfuric acid clouds acted like a giant mirror, reflecting more sunlight back into space and cause a temporary cool down right into the particles, eventually settling as acid rain.

50:21 Okay, so the eruption also produced a spectacular light show for months afterwards. I'm not surprised. Volcanic ash painted the skies with vivid red hues, causing an alarm in some places where they would like call out the fire engines to battle the fire. And it was just. It was just the sky yeah, wow, that's wild the ash also created a phenomenon known as bishop's ring around the sun during the day, and then in there was an eerie volcanic purple light at twilight why is it called bishop's ring? I don't know okay, sorry that's what I said what?

51:06 It's just what it said, that's fine. Some scientists even suggest that the fiery red sky depicted in Edvard Munch's iconic painting the Scream may be like a reflection of the post-eruption skies over Norway. Oh sure, okay, yeah, interesting. So the event also led to the first identification of the jet stream. Oh sure, that makes sense. Weather observers meticulously track the ash plumes movement across the globe, and it was a phenomenon they dubbed as equatorial smoke stream. Okay, so the tracking paved the way for our modern understanding of the jet stream, and which is a high altitude band of fast moving winds that play a crucial role in global weather patterns.

51:53 So, though the violent eruption of Krakatoa subsided by late afternoon on August 27th, tremors persisted for several months after that. Okay, daylight returned on August 29th. Jesus. It returned two days later, Wow. A team led by geologist Dr Roger Verbeek were tasked with investigating more eruptions from Krakatoa. They thought that it was going to continue. Right. So he went to investigate, but he debunked these claims. Okay. So by mid-October, verbeek definitively dismissed any possibility of any further eruptions.

52:37 Okay, and then the volcano remained silent for decades. Did it ever erupt again? Because you said for decades, so did it actually erupt again? It did, oh wow. So in 1913, a renewed eruption sparked concerns. However, an investigation revealed no signs of activity. The culprit was probably a massive landslide, possibly the one responsible for the second arc of Ricotta's cliff face being mistaken for an eruption. Okay. Makes sense, okay, so. Makes sense Bathameric charts, which is the study of the depth of underwater terrain.

53:18 Oh sure. Created in 1919, hinted at a bulge beneath the surface suggesting a potential magma upswelling. Okay, the bulge would eventually lead to the rise of a new island new island which I will get into, oh, all right. Okay, so the fate of northern krakatoa actually remains a puzzle for geologists how come? Well. Initial theories suggested a violent explosion tore the island apart yeah, they actually think it's more complex okay, why? so most of the volcanic debris points to a magmatic origin and the caldera itself isn't filled with significant material. Caldera is the collapse that forms during large-volume volcanic eruptions, when the underlying magma chamber is partially emptied and the ground above it subsides into it so like creating a crater, sure, emptied and the ground above it subsides into it so like creating a crater, sure.

54:17 So this suggests the island may have sunk into an empty magma chamber rather than being obliterated by the explosion. So it just like cleared out some room and like yes, yes, oh, I gotcha okay so the prevailing hypothesis, based on earlier investigations, proposes that a partial collapse happened before the first eruptions on august 27th gotcha. This submerged the volcano's vents, triggering a train, a chain reaction so okay major flooding led to a series of for freddick, freddick, freddick explosions. Okay, a freddick eruption is made up of steam driven explosions that occur when water beneath the ground or on the surface is heated by volcanic activity okay so the water, once heated, begins to boil right and it can even flash straight to steam, causing an explosion so it must have been pretty hot if it can do that.

55:17 Yes, so this the seawater cooled the magma right, causing it to solidify, and then created a pressure cooker effect oh sure, and then the built-up pressure, releasing the massive explosions yeah, yeah, that makes. So another geologist throws a wrench into this theory. All right, the pumice and ash deposits don't match what would have been expected from a magma interacting with seawater. So this led to an alternative hypothesis A sudden underwater landslide or partial collapse could have exposed the pressurized magma chamber, allowing seawater to enter and trigger a violent interaction.

55:59 Gotcha. The final explosions might have been caused by magma mixing Hot basalic magma, which is commonly produced by direct melting of the earth's mantle gotcha injecting into cooler, lighter magma could have led to a rapid and unsustainable pressure increase okay, culminating in the eruption and this is just a theory, or? Yeah, these are theories. Okay, so this particular theory is supported by the presence of pumice with both light and dark materials indicating different magma temperatures.

56:40 However, the scarcity of this dark material, which is less than 5% of the debris, led some to reject this as the primary cause. Oh so yeah, it doesn't seem like I just lost a word. I was going to use. It doesn't seem like the right theory. Yeah, we'll just go with that. Thanks for finishing that. The eruption unleashed a combination of pyroclastic flows, volcanic ash and tsunamis. The human cost was staggering tens of thousands dying. The geographic landscape was altered yeah and krakatoa was only like. There was only like 30 percent left that that's.

57:21 That to me is amazing because, like that's again, it lost a lot of its mass, obviously 70 percent of it, and the fact that I think what was the number you said, though? 36 000 people died that's. That's without even knowing if any of them were on the actual island that blew up. It's all from the surrounding. That's crazy so on december, in december of 1927, a new peak arose. Wait what it broke the water surface on in december of 1927. Okay, and they called this peak aak Krakatoa, which means child of Krakatoa. That's awesome so there's literally a little tiny island.

58:01 Baby Krakatoa. It's baby Krakatoa, aw. In 2018, anak Krakatoa had the biggest eruption of the 21st century. Did it really? Yes, oh, wow. It caused a tsunami with a death toll at 437. Okay. And over 14,000 were injured. Oh wow, maybe I do remember that. Then, wow, okay. Yeah, so that's the story of the loudest sound ever documented the eruption of Krakatoa in 1883. I can tell you this with my crappy hearing. I'm glad it didn't come from that, because that would have sucked being anywhere close to that and hearing how loud it was.

58:42 I mean, it would have blew your eardrums out. Well, the sound can. Well, it depends on how close you are but the sound can actually kill you. Well, yeah, that's true. Yeah. I don't want to be killed by sound Okay, so I want my voice to rest a little bit. Tell me briefly how your beer is, because it's new to you, right? This one was new to me. It wasn't bad. If I was rating it out of one to five, I'd give it a three, okay. If I was rating it out of a one to five, I'd give it a three. I've had some other third space that I've enjoyed more, but it was certainly not bad. I like my fresh coast at a four.

59:22 Yeah, you do like that one, I know you've had that before too, so I'm glad that you got a familiar one. No, I mean again third space, first tracks. It's solid but I've had better from them. Yes, but no. I mean again. Third space first tracks it's solid, but I've had better from them. Sure yeah. I enjoyed it. Awesome. Yeah Well, I'm sorry you're not feeling good. Let's get you some rest and stop talking, so you don't lose your voice. What do you mean? Stop talking. You don't want me to talk anymore? Well, I suppose All all right, buffoons. That's it for today's episode. Buckle up, because we've got another historical adventure waiting for you. Next time feeling hungry for more buffoonery, or maybe you have a burning question or a wild historical theory for us to explore hit us up on social media.

1:00:10 We're history buffoons podcast on reddit x, instagram and facebook. You can also email us at history buffoons podcast at gmailcom follow us wherever you get your podcasts and turn those notifications on to stay in the loop until next time, stay curious and don't forget to rate and review us remember, the buffoonery never stops.