A massive, cataclysmic undersea volcano erupted on January 15th, spraying ash, gas, and steam miles into the atmosphere, and sending tsunami waves throughout the South Pacific, near the nation of Tonga.
Thankfully mass casualties were not reported, but waves and floodwaters were clearly evident. The volcano was also captured by satellite imagery, with incredible images showing the eruption and shockwaves that followed. It was considered the largest eruption ever documented from space.
The effects from what may be the world’s newest landmass are yet to be fully studied, but it’s amazing that the moment was captured so clearly, giving us a sense just how massive this eruption was.
It was 40 years ago this week that Mount Saint Helens erupted, the biggest eruption in U.S. history, completely changing the shape of the mountain.
On the morning of Sunday May 18, 1980, an earthquake started the eruption, which lasted for several days, and sent an enormous plume of smoke, ash, and rock 80,000 feet into the atmosphere. Β The blast reached over 670 miles per hour, and put out as much explosive force as 26 megatons of TNT.
Mt. St. Helens on the morning before the eruptionΒ The same view of the mountain, after the devastating eruption
The Atlantic has a great article showing historical photos from that day and the days that followed. Here are some of our favorites below.
The Kamchatka Peninsula is a land of extreme weather and extreme topography, with the tallest active volcano in the northern hemisphere, and strange, alien-like landscapes.
This hard-to-travel-to destination in Russia feels like an undiscovered world, full of pristine peaks and almost no development whatsoever. The steep cliffs of Klyuchevskaya Sopka, the volcano peak rise to impressive heights in this series by photographerΒ Isabella Tabacchi. From fields of wildflowers to acidic volcanic vents, Tabacchi’s images show us some of the untouched beauty of this land.
In a world that feels increasingly small and trampled on by humanity, it’s very nice to know of places like the Kamchatka that remain so wild and free, for now.
Last summer I visited the Kamchatka peninsula, a land in the far east of Russia. My purpose was to discover a natural scenery that, except for some little towns and the city Petropavlovsk-KamΔatskij, is totally made of pristine nature, forests and huge volcanoes. The nature of Kamchatka is still mostly unknown, it’s really dangerous and it changes continuously, so I explored the peninsula with the help of two local guides. The thing that impressed me the mostΒ is the contrast between the colors of life, of the trees, the flowers, the forests and the shades of death, of the volcanoes, of the ash.Β
Marta KubiczekΒ has a vision of paradise, and it includes floating through waters filled with lily pads, and riding the backs of giant tigers through the forest. Her lovelyΒ illustrations have a vintage tropical vibe, and her color palette is warm and inviting. Great work, via Behance:
In a phenomenon that scientists still don’t quite understand, lightning is sometimes borne out of an active volcano when it erupts, with dramatic effect. On an island in southern Japan, one of Asia’s most active volcanos is providing an amazing show. Β Via FastCo Design:
Some gorgeous aerial photography of Iceland’s volcanic landscape. The colors and patterns flow together to seem almost otherworldly. Β Photographs byΒ Andre Ermolaev.
Iceland is a wonderful country; I would even say that it is a true paradise for all the photo shooting-lovers. But what has become a real discovery for me is the birdβs eye view of the rivers flowing along the black volcanic sand. It is an inexpressible combination of colors, lines, and patterns. The photo represents the mouth of the river falling into the ocean. […] A little bit upstream there is a yellow-colored brook flowing into the river, but yellow currents fail to mix with the main water flow. One can estimate the scale judging by the car tracks that are clearly seen on the black sand. This is just a river, just a volcano, just our planet.
A cloud of ash billowing from Puyehue volcano near Osorno in southern Chile, 870 km south of Santiago, on June 5, 2011. Puyehue volcano erupted for the first time in half a century on June 4, 2011, prompting evacuations as it sent up a cloud of ash that circled the globe.
Out of an estimated 1,500 active volcanoes around the world, 50 or so erupt every year, spewing steam, ash, toxic gases, and lava. In 2011, active volcanoes included Chile’s Puyehue, Japan’s Shinmoedake, Indonesia’s Lokon, Iceland’s GrΓmsvΓΆtn, Italy’s Etna, and recently Nyamulagira in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In Hawaii, Kilauea continues to send lava flowing toward the sea, and the ocean floor has been erupting near the Canary Islands. Collected below are scenes from the wide variety of volcanic activity on Earth over the past year.
Shinmoedake peak erupts between Miyazaki and Kagoshima prefectures, in this aerial view seen on January 28, 2011. Ash and rocks fell across a wide swath of southern Japan straddling the prefectures of Miyazaki and Kagoshima, as one of Mount Kirishima's many calderas erupted, prompting authorities to raise alert levels and call on for an evacuation of all residents within a 2 km (1.2 miles) radius of the volcano.Lava spews into the air, higher than the treetops, near the Kamoamoa fissures between Napau Crater and the Pu`u `O `o crater on Kilauea Volcano in Hawaii, on March 7, 2011.Lava pours from from a fissure just after daybreak and cascades out of sight into a deep crack near the town of Volcano, Hawaii, on March 6, 2011. Scientists monitored a new vent that has opened at the Kilauea volcano, sending lava shooting up to 65 feet high.Lightning cuts through an ash cloud as Shinmoedake peak erupts, as seen from Takaharu Town Office, Miyazaki prefecture, Japan, on January 27, 2011.Indonesian worshipers descend from the crater of Mount Bromo in East Java province on January 28, 2011. The worshipers gave offerings to the god of the mountain, praying for the safety of local people.Surfers paddle past icebergs covered in ash from the GrΓmsvΓΆtn volcano eruption, in the glacier lagoon at the base of Vatnajokull, Iceland, May 26, 2011.A view of the ash plume above the Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcano chain near Entrelagos, on June 5, 2011. The volcano, dormant for decades, erupted in south-central Chile, belching ash over 6 miles (10 km) into the sky, as winds fanned it toward neighboring Argentina, and prompted the government to evacuate several thousand residents, authorities said.Lightning bolts strike around the Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcanic chain near southern Osorno city, on June 5, 2011.Houses and trees are covered by volcanic ash on the bank of Nahuel Huapi Lake in Villa La Angostura in southern Argentina, on June 19, 2011, after the nearby eruption of the Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcanic chain.Dead fish float among debris and small chunks of pumice in the Nilahue river after the eruption of the Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcano in Rininahue, southern Chile, on June 8, 2011.Mount Lokon spews hot lava and volcanic ash during an eruption in Tomohon in Indonesia's North Sulawesi province, on July 14, 2011. Mount Lokon sent an ash cloud as high as 1,500 meters (5,000 feet) in the north of Sulawesi island, prompting panicked residents to flee the agricultural area, a government official said.An eruption from Mount Nyamulagira in eastern Congo sends lava high into the air on November 11, 2011.A man walks as the Tungurahua Volcano (background) spews ash, in Cotalo, Ecuador, on November 29, 2011. Ecuador's Tungurahua volcano spewed red-hot rock and ash as officials upgraded their eruption warning level to orange and some at-risk communities began evacuations.Tungurahua Volcano is seen from the town of Guadalupe, Ecuador, on November 28, 2011.View of the fumarole of Tungurahua volcano, from the town of Cotalo, Ecuador, on November 29, 2011.
