On August 26-27, 1883 Krakatoa erupted in one of the largest volcanic eruptions ever recorded. The eruption was equivalent to 200 megatons of TNT and was four times stronger than the most powerful nuclear device ever detonated. The eruption moved six cubic miles of rock and could be heard over 3,000 miles away in Alice Springs, Australia. Ash and gases from the eruption caused climate effects world-wide including record rainfall in Southern California and a 2.2 degree (F) drop in world-wide average temperature that persisted until 1888. Tsunamis created from the explosion killed thousands, with the final total death-toll from all volcanic effects estimated at 35,000 or more. In the final, most violent eruption, about two-thirds of the volcano collapsed in on itself, sinking most of the island into the ocean.
Lithograph of the 1883 eruption
Image published as Plate 1 in The eruption of Krakatoa, and subsequent phenomena. Report of the Krakatoa Committee of the Royal Society (London, Trubner & Co., 1888) accessed at link on August 9th