Lots of eruptions are just drops in a bucket perhaps taking out a few cities and towns. Krakatoa (1883 I think) was a pretty serious deal with the initial shock waves making 7 or 8 passes around the globe. Seems recording barometers were the vogue thing among the wealthy in Europe at that time, and they recorded the pressure spikes as they repeatedly circled the earth.
Still, for those in the immediate area, even the small ones are significant. I got to venture into the Spirit Lake area a couple months after St Helens blew. The surgical nature of the pyroclastic flows was amazing. Old growth timber, blasted free of bark, all down, and oriented in the same direction was hard to understand when a stand 5 yards to the right appeared untouched, erect, and healthy. There were places where the forest and its underlying soils were heaved over the horizon. As we approached the mountain from the east, there were several view points where I would have confidently placed myself to watch the eruption. Had one indeed been there, no sign of him would have ever been found.
Indeed, Mother Nature can be a bitch, and it seems it's always the government's fault when she unwinds.
If I elect to occupy a flood plain, coastal sand dune, or a volcanic slope, it was my own undoing.
How far was that location you mention from the mountain?
