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Lava flows surround the town of El Paraíso on La Palma in the Canary Islands.
disasters

How Volcanologists Tracked a Violent, Months-Long Eruption

Though the damage on La Palma in the Canary Islands is extensive, no lives were lost.
Robin George Andrews January 14, 2022
curious denizens
Nashville, Tennessee

8th Avenue Reservoir

In 1912, a broken section of the reservoir wall released millions of gallons of water and destroyed many homes downhill.
disasters

Podcast: The Deadliest Lake

Join us for a daily celebration of the world’s most wondrous, unexpected, even strange places.
The Podcast Team December 6, 2021
A multidisciplinary research team believes a catastrophic impact event may have inspired the Biblical story of the destruction of Sodom.
disasters

Is an Asteroid to Blame for the Biblical Story of Sodom?

A massive space rock impact event may have inspired the tale of godly wrath.
Christopher R. Moore November 1, 2021
disasters

Podcast: Arecibo Observatory

Join us for a daily celebration of the world’s most wondrous, unexpected, even strange places.
The Podcast Team September 1, 2021
Peering into the abyss.
disasters

Podcast: National Corvette Museum Sinkhole

Join us for a daily celebration of the world’s most wondrous, unexpected, even strange places.
The Podcast Team May 31, 2021
Flame spewing from the Nyiragongo Volcano, as seen across Lake Kivu.
disasters

Why Congo’s Nyiragongo Volcano Has Scientists on Edge

Fast lava and suspicious earthquakes mean people are still at risk.
Robin George Andrews May 28, 2021
Passages shipwreck on Jurby Beach.
List

18 Shipwrecks You Can See Without Getting Your Feet Wet

No scuba tank? No problem! Maritime history is for landlubbers, too.
Gemma Tarlach May 24, 2021
The La Soufrière eruption captured by a satellite.
disasters

Trying to Understand a Volcano's Jekyll-and-Hyde Eruptions

Volcanologists are doing detective work to understand what makes St. Vincent's La Soufrière go off.
Robin George Andrews April 16, 2021
The vessel MV Wakashio ran aground off the southeast coast of Mauritius in July 2020, leaking oil that fouled waters known internationally for their biodiversity.
disasters

How Locals on Mauritius United To Fight an Oil Spill With Their Own Hair

When a cargo ship crossing the Indian Ocean wrecked just offshore, the "people of the sea" sprang into action.
Reena Usha Rungoo March 31, 2021
An Australian galah, also known as the pink and grey cockatoo, is examined in the mobile hospital.
disasters

How a Vet Hospital on Wheels Rescued Australian Wildlife During Floods

Injured birds, bats, echidnas, and more got some TLC during a disaster.
Winnie Lee March 29, 2021
disasters

Podcast: Lynmouth Flood Memorial Hall

Join us for a daily celebration of the world’s most wondrous, unexpected, even strange places.
The Podcast Team March 22, 2021
The 21st-century team encountered snow and cold water—but they had much warmer gear than the folks whose footsteps they were following.
disasters

Retracing a Donner Party Path, Nearly Two Centuries Later

To pay homage, ultra-athletes fought snow and thorns.
Erika Mailman March 8, 2021
The Oaks Disaster Memorial
Barnsley, England

The Oaks Disaster Memorial

A churchyard in Ardsley houses a memorial dedicated to the victims of England’s worst mining disaster.
A decorated entryway.
New Orleans, Louisiana

Wooden Quilt Doors

An artist weaves "wooden quilts" with scraps salvaged from his Katrina-damaged home in Tremé.
Memorial plaque.
Kingman, Arizona

Kingman Explosion Memorial

A memorial to the firefighters who died in an industrial disaster is housed in a small public park.
Pine cones lie strewn on the floor of a ponderosa pine forest in New Mexico, nearly three decades after fire moved through the area and scarred the tree in the foreground.
disasters

The Climate Isn't Just Worsening Wildfires, It Can Hobble Forests' Ability to Recover

"What we’re most concerned about is things can still get worse.”
Luna Shyr September 24, 2020
Ubiquitous throughout the USSR, Palaces of Culture, such as this one in Pogonnoe, were used to host theater, concerts, and films. The events usually contained explicit Soviet political messages.
disasters

Exploring Chernobyl's Imprint on Neighboring Belarus

The Polesie State Radioecological Reserve is close to Ukraine's Exclusion Zone, but a world away.
Darmon Richter September 22, 2020