mother nature at her best/scarest?
A volcano errupting with a thunderstorm Full thing here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_article_id=563975&in_page_id=1766&ito=1490

Ah yes, I heard about this... That was a volcano near Chaiten, Chile; which makes me rather sad. I believe that was one of the many beautiful volcano cones that could be seen during the water crossing between Argentina and Chile. It was such a lovely and peaceful area, and I can only assume that it has drastically changed in the aftermath of this eruption. That is a magnificent picture though, as are the rest on that article page. My best wishes to the people of Patagonia. Also, to the folks of southern Asia who just got hit by that cyclone. Now lets just hope that these natural disasters do not abide the rule of three.

You can only imagine what these people must be going through :( The worst we get over here is wind or flood damage, the experts reckon such events will become more common, but its hardly to the extent where 10's of 1000's will be effected and mass deaths

I hear ya. We're quite lucky. My local region (North-east USA) is still under the protection of the Canadian shield, which is a tectonic layer of stable bedrock. As a result, we really don't have any concerns with geologic disturbances, and we're far enough from the southern coast that we don't need to worry about major storms. In fact, the worst we have to worry about around here is freezing rain, which on the scale of natural disasters is pretty puny. It's alarming to think of the things we take for granted in our lives; like the peace of mind in knowing that our homes won't collapse at any moment in the wake of an earthquake.

Just... wow!

I love how casually this is quoted in the article: Now, the worst-case scenario is the collapse of the volcano accompanied by a "pyroclastic flow" - a devastating super-eruption of scorching dense gas and molten rock that would roll down the mountainside at 100mph or faster, incinerating and flattening all in its wake. Talk about death and mass destruction. Doomsday, anyone?

discovery channel or History channel did a documentary of what would happen if the volcanoes in and around yellowstone park did the worst case scenario, along with the instability of the west coast, it was very disturbing to watch, the fact and figure and how much damage it could do, and how quickly where beyond comprehension

Great Mando'a... Thats amazing...