This is called rectification, and rectifier diodes are most commonly used in low current power supplies. A switching diode is most often used to turn a circuit on or off, and band switching diodes are used for switching high frequency band signals.
Thunder occurs when energy from lightning heats and rapidly expands the air. The resulting sound wave gets heard as thunder. While lightning and thunder occur at roughly the same time, lightning travels at the speed of light, or at 186,000 miles a second, while thunder travels at the speed of sound, equivalent to one-fifth of a mile in one second. People see the lightning long before they hear the thunder.
When lightning strikes, it heats up the air a lot and causes it to expand with an explosive sound (thunder). EDIT: Ground shaking is an earthquake. Thunder accompanies thunderstorms, which have lightning. Thunderstorms are created by a cooler air mass colliding with a warm air mass, forcing the warm air mass up rapidly, decreasing pressure, temperature, and water saturation capacity, and creating lots of rain.