Well, for one thing there was no telecommunication, so most people may not have known it was a global event.. people (outside of the range where it was entirely

Well, for one thing there was no telecommunication, so most people may not have known it was a global event.. people (outside of the range where it was entirely ear-shattering) may have just thought "huh, I guess they're firing the guns down at the battery" and only months later found out it was some faraway volcano