A hundred and thirty years ago this month Indonesia’s Krakatoa volcano erupted, sending plumes of ash so high it discolored the horizon in San Francisco. The explosion killed nearly 40,000 people and dispatched pumice as far away as Zanzibar. The boom is reported to have been the loudest sound ever heard in modern history. Via The Jakarta Post, read more

Ten years ago, I interviewed author Simon Winchester, who had just published his work, Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded. I so enjoyed the jovial Englishman’s account of lava and book touring, in equal measure, and provided this review and this interview both to the Jakarta Post.