my first volcanic boom

Today I heard my first real volcanic explosion.

Playing in the park with the family, we heard a large rumbling thunderous sound though the weather was clear. It seemed to come from all directions at once. I had no clue what it could be, for it was simply too big a sound to have been something falling over or perhaps two trucks colliding.

We learned later that it was an eruption of Sakurajima, Japan's most active volcano. As loud as the sound was, it must have been incredible at the source, because we were a long way from the volcano in Nichinan.