I've been involved in ground testing of medium-to-large turbine engines for a few decades and have experienced many compressor stalls (or surges, the terms are essentially interchangeable). And as often as I've heard/felt them, I have no problem with a untrained person calling it an "explosion" - because that is what it seems like. Combusting fuel/air mix at 20x atmospheric pressure deciding to exit through the front end of the engine - it's a LOUD bang!
I'm not sure what the modern protocol is re sweeping the runway for debris after an RTO. If there's no evidence of missing engine hardware, the sweep may not be necessary.
I know, I know, it's more akin to a firearm discharging, which isn't really an explosion, but rather very rapid combustion.