The sound made by the eruption of the volcano Krakatau in 1883 was so loud that it burst the eardrums of people within a radius of 65 kilometers. It was clearly heard at a distance of almost 5,000 kilometers.
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For a moment, think how amazing it is. If you are in Boston and someone tells you that you heard a sound coming from New York, you would probably look with surprise.
But Boston is just 320 kilometers from New York. What we are talking about is similar to the situation in which a person is in Boston and clearly hears a sound coming from the capital of Ireland, Dublin. The sound, having a speed of 330 m/s, will cover such a distance in 4 hours.
Another example, the Saturn V rocket launchers at a very close range produces an incredible 220 dB sound. It is loud enough to melt concrete.
The loudest sound ever created in the history of mankind happened during the Tunguska event. According to researchers, its volume was 315 dB. This was enough to destroy the forest in an area of 2000 square kilometers.
Why are a few hundred decibels so powerful and destructive?
Decibels are a logarithmic unit. That is, 20 dB is not at all 2 times more powerful than 10 dB, but 10. 30 dB is 10 times more powerful than 20 dB. Each time, the number of dB increases by 10, the sound volume increases by 10 times.
1100 dB is 10 ^ 109 (1 and 109 zeros) times louder than 10 dB. Such a loud sound will compress the air so tightly that it could very well lead to the formation of a giant black hole.
