I wonder if there was a local loudness maximum on the globe diametrically opposed to the volcano. As the advancing wave makes it half-way around the globe, it seems like it would converge simultaneously on a single point on the opposite side.
And on a global scale, there are many differences in pressure and wind speeds and temperature that do slightly alter the speed of sound. I don't know the magnitude of that, but it would further disperse the arrival times at the antipode to at least some extent.
thr article mentions this too... its hard to get a feel for log scales lol.
Genuine question, how's the difference between 194db and 180db only 5x? Shouldn't it be more than 10x?
This leads to confusion when people don't specify which quantity they are comparing.
This, combined with that the fact that on the on the "other" side of the world it was really only detectable by barometric readings means that you would be hard pressed to notice it, even along those lines and or point.