All Episodes

April 15, 2025 3 mins

What's the loudest sound you've ever heard?

In today's episode Fin tell us about the loudest sound that has ever been made on Earth. Can you guess what made it?

Get your brain popping with today's fun fact that educates and fascinates.

Transcript

Welcome to Brain Pop! — where your brain goes boom with one mind-blowing fact every day!
I’m your host, Fin — and today’s fact is loud, like really loud. So maybe cover your ears and hold onto your headphones, because we’re about to blast off into the world’s biggest BOOM ever recorded.

Let’s get that brain popping — with a BOOM you’ll never forget!

Alright, here it is:
The loudest sound that’s ever been measured on Earth was caused by a volcano — and not just any volcano, but Krakatoa in Indonesia, back in 1883. When it erupted, the explosion was so powerful, it created a sound wave that could be heard over 3,000 miles away — that’s around 4,800 kilometers!

To help you picture that:
•That’s like an explosion in New York being heard all the way in California.
•Or from London, England all the way to Egypt.
•Or from Sydney, Australia to Singapore.

Pretty far, right? And people that far away didn’t just hear a faint rumble — they heard a BOOM so loud, it was like it happened right next to them.

Scientists believe the sound reached around 310 decibels.

But wait — what’s a decibel, and how loud is that?

Here’s a quick sound-o-meter to help:
•A whisper is about 30 decibels.
•A normal conversation is around 60 decibels.
•A dog bark is about 90 decibels.
•A car horn? Around 110 decibels.
•A jet engine taking off? A super loud 140 decibels — and that can hurt your ears if you’re standing nearby!

But Krakatoa’s boom? It was so loud, it ruptured eardrums of sailors over 60 miles away and caused a pressure wave that circled the entire Earth four times.
Some people who were close to the eruption said they didn’t just hear it — they felt it in their chest.

It literally shook the air!

To put it in kid-size terms:
•It was louder than a thousand race cars revving at once.
•Louder than an entire marching band blasting in a small room.
•And louder than if every kid at a birthday party screamed at the same time… next to a volcano.

And get this: the eruption caused a giant tsunami, changed the weather, and even made sunsets look red and purple all around the world for months afterward!

So yeah — the loudest sound wasn’t a rock concert or a rocket. It was Mother Nature saying, “BOOM!”

Wow! — that fact really made my eardrums wiggle!
Thanks for popping your brain with me on today’s explosively awesome episode of Brain Pop!.

Come back tomorrow for another fact that’ll make some noise in your brain. And here’s your question of the day:
What’s the loudest sound you’ve ever heard? Was it thunder? A firework? Your little brother yelling “MOM!” from the other room?

See you next time on Brain Pop! — where curiosity is cool, facts are fun, and every day your brain goes BOOM!

Mark as Played

Advertise With Us

Popular Podcasts

On Purpose with Jay Shetty

On Purpose with Jay Shetty

I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!

Stuff You Should Know

Stuff You Should Know

If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.

Dateline NBC

Dateline NBC

Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com

Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.