Volcanic ash causing havoc

I have never heard of the word Tsunami until that fateful day on Dec 26 2006. I still remember, I was watching TV that morning when suddenly news appeared on the screen about a few people killed due to rough sea. This was in Penang. I said to myself the storm must be real strong. Then the same story repeated itself, this time its in Thailand, then Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia and so on. By the time the whole story unfolded, more than 250,000 people had died. That was my introduction to Tsunami.
Now its volcanic ash. Never heard of it before until now. Thousands of people stranded at airports all over the world because of it. I wonder what's next?