A volcano's north face slid away in seconds, and the blast that followed flattened hundreds of square miles

nature & planetWikipedia1980 · Mount St. Helens, Washington, USA

A volcano's north face slid away in seconds, and the blast that followed flattened hundreds of square miles

the gist

On May 18, 1980, at 8:32 a.m., Mount St. Helens in Washington State erupted with a volcanic explosivity index of 5, the first such eruption in the contiguous United States since Lassen Peak in 1915. The eruption was preceded by months of earthquakes and steam venting, as magma pushed up beneath the mountain and formed a large bulge on its north slope. An earthquake at 8:32 that morning triggered the collapse of the weakened north face, the largest subaerial landslide in recorded history. The release of pressure let hot, gas-rich rock explode sideways toward Spirit Lake, overtaking the landslide. An ash column rose about 24 km into the atmosphere and dropped ash across 11 US states and parts of Canada. Melting snow and glaciers produced lahars, volcanic mudflows, that reached the Columbia River nearly 80 km away. About 57 people died, and the eruption left the crater still visible today.

so what

It remains one of the most disastrous volcanic events in US history and reshaped how scientists monitor and understand flank collapses. The area is now protected as the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument, and Washington marks May as Volcano Awareness Month.

fun fact

The eruption's sideways blast was so unexpected that it flattened forests across hundreds of square miles, even though the mountain had been studied intensively in the weeks before.

Hampi was once one of the world's largest cities, until its Vijayanagara capital was destroyed in 1565

the gist

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.

how it works

The city was built around a fortified core with temples, markets and water structures along the river, supplied by an extensive network of roads and waterworks. When the empire fell, the city was not rebuilt, so its stone monuments were left standing.

so what

Hampi shows how quickly a great city can vanish after a military defeat, and how a ruined capital can remain sacred. Its ruins give historians a view of medieval South Asia that few other sites can match.

fun fact

The name Hampi comes from Pampa, an old name for the Tungabhadra River.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · text CC BY-SA 4.0

Image: Wikimedia Commons

source: Wikipedia ↗

2 min

politicsshortCNA2:01

False allegations about Singapore’s hand in Indonesia’s markets and a made-up meeting

from CNA

CNA Verify has found close to 400 posts pushing falsehoods tying Singapore to Indonesia’s stock market rout and to a secret meeting that never took place. Together, they drew nearly 12 million views, and some were circulated by accounts that appeared to be working in concert, across multiple social media platforms.

Here’s how the disinformation campaign targeting Singapore was uncovered.

on YouTube: CNA ↗