A spectacular hydrothermal explosion caught on camera

[Otherbrother]

@beschizza

NPR reports that such explosions are rare, with examples recorded in 1989 and 2009, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. This one, alarming as it was, was a “small one.” A one-in-700-years event could shoot a mile high and leave a crater a mile wide.

And that’s absolutely nothing compared to the 1 in 700,000 years supervolcano eruptions.

When a Sleeping Giant Awakes

Thousands of years ago, the last blast from the Yellowstone supervolcano shot a fatal plume of hot ash, molten rock, and lethal gases thousands of meters into the air. A third of the continent was likely plunged into complete darkness.