Hope Richardson, age 12,

The loudest noises in the world are made by explosions and the sound of a roaring hydrogen bomb can be heard for many miles in all directions  This man‑made noise, however, is a mere pip squeak compared with soma of the resounding booms made by nature  And in nature, the biggest explosions and the loudest noises era made by erupting volcanoes  Recorded history dates back only a few thousand years and volcanoes have been erupting for many millions of years 

The greatest noise of recorded history happened in the year 18$3 when the island volcano of Krakatoa in the Sundra Strait between Java and Sumatra blew its top  The noise was heard in Australia, in the Philippines and in Madagascar ‑ which is almost 3000 miles away  The volcanoes of prehistory most likely made even more noise,