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Rare Video Captures Super-Charged Volcanic Ash Cloud Sparked By Lightning

We've Angered The Gods, If You Don't Believe Us Watch This
Thomas Tamblyn
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Volcanic lightning is one of those incredibly rare phenomena that when viewed for the first time can quite literally put the fear of the Greek gods in you.

Believe us then when we say this video posted by BBC Earth is one of those moments:

Volcanic lightning only occurs during a particularly violent eruption when huge quantities of positively charged ash debris is thrown into the air.

Seen for only the briefest of moments, the lightning will then fork down through the ash into the volcano itself. The resulting effect goes a long way to explaining why Zeus was a) angry ALL of the time and b) had a certain fondness for lobbing bolts of lightning everywhere.

Still not convinced, then how about these images taken from the very same eruption in Calbuco, Chile:

Calbuco volcano erupts
(01 of25)
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The Calbuco volcano erupts near Puerto Varas, Chile, Thursday, April 23, 2015. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
(02 of25)
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View from Frutillar, southern Chile, showing volcanic lightnings and lava spewed from the Calbuco volcano on April 23, 2015. (credit:MARTIN BERNETTI via Getty Images)
(03 of25)
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This view from Puerto Varas, southern Chile, shows a high column of ash and lava spewing from the Calbuco volcano, on April 23, 2015. (credit:DAVID CORTES SEREY via Getty Images)
(04 of25)
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View from Frutillar, southern Chile, showing volcanic lightnings and lava spewed from the Calbuco volcano on April 23, 2015. (credit:MARTIN BERNETTI via Getty Images)
(05 of25)
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View from Frutillar, southern Chile, showing volcanic lightnings and lava spewed from the Calbuco volcano on April 23, 2015. (credit:MARTIN BERNETTI via Getty Images)
(06 of25)
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View from Frutillar, southern Chile, showing volcanic lightnings and lava spewed from the Calbuco volcano on April 23, 2015. (credit:MARTIN BERNETTI via Getty Images)
(07 of25)
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View from Frutillar, southern Chile, showing volcanic lightnings and lava spewed from the Calbuco volcano on April 23, 2015 (credit:MARTIN BERNETTI via Getty Images)
(08 of25)
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View from Frutillar, southern Chile, showing volcanic lightnings and lava spewed from the Calbuco volcano on April 23, 2015. (credit:MARTIN BERNETTI via Getty Images)
(09 of25)
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Smoke and lava spew from the Calbuco volcano, as seen from the shores of Lake Llanquihue in Puerto Varas, April 23, 2015. (credit:Reuters)
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Smoke and lava spew from the Calbuco volcano, as seen from the shores of Lake Llanquihue in Puerto Varas, April 23, 2015. (credit:REUTERS/Carlos Gutierrez )
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View from Puerto Varas, southern Chile, of a high column of ash and lava spewing from the Calbuco volcano, on April 22, 2015. (credit:AFP/Getty Images)
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The Calbuco volcano erupts near Puerto Varas, Chile, Wednesday, April 22, 2015. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The Calbuco volcano erupts near Puerto Varas, Chile, Wednesday, April 22, 2015. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Children watch the Calbuco volcano erupt, from Puerto Varas, Chile, Wednesday, April 22, 2015. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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The Calbuco volcano is seen erupting from Puerto Varas, Chile, Wednesday, April 22, 2015. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Children watch the Calbuco volcano erupt, from Puerto Varas, Chile, Wednesday, April 22, 2015. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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View of the road to San Carlos de Bariloche, province of Rio Negro, 1570 km southwest of Buenos Aires, with a menacing ashes cloud from the Calbuco volcano in neighbouring Chile, on April 22, 2015. (credit:FRANCISCO RAMOS MEJIA via Getty Images)
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View from the Nahuel Huapi lake, province of Rio Negro, 1570 km southwest of Buenos Aires, of a menacing cloud from the Calbuco volcano in neighbouring Chile, on April 22, 2015. (credit:FRANCISCO RAMOS MEJIA via Getty Images)
(19 of25)
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LLANQUIHUE, CHILE - APRIL 22: The Calbuco volcano erupts on April 22, 2015 near Puerto Varas in the Llanquihue Region, Chile. The volcano, considered as one of the most potentially dangerous in Chile, erupted for the first time in more than 42 years. It generated a huge cloud of ashes which is affecting the South of Chile and Argentina. (Photo by Ivan Konar/LatinContent/Getty Images) (credit:Ivan Konar/CON via Getty Images)
(20 of25)
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LLANQUIHUE, CHILE - APRIL 22: The Calbuco volcano erupts on April 22, 2015 near Puerto Varas in the Llanquihue Region, Chile. The volcano, considered as one of the most potentially dangerous in Chile, erupted for the first time in more than 42 years. It generated a huge cloud of ashes which is affecting the South of Chile and Argentina. (Photo by Ivan Konar/LatinContent/Getty Images) (credit:Ivan Konar/CON via Getty Images)
(21 of25)
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LLANQUIHUE, CHILE - APRIL 22: The Calbuco volcano erupts on April 22, 2015 near Puerto Varas in the Llanquihue Region, Chile. The volcano, considered as one of the most potentially dangerous in Chile, erupted for the first time in more than 42 years. It generated a huge cloud of ashes which is affecting the South of Chile and Argentina. (Photo by Ivan Konar/LatinContent/Getty Images) (credit:Ivan Konar/CON via Getty Images)
(22 of25)
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LLANQUIHUE, CHILE - APRIL 22: The Calbuco volcano erupts on April 22, 2015 near Puerto Varas in the Llanquihue Region, Chile. The volcano, considered as one of the most potentially dangerous in Chile, erupted for the first time in more than 42 years. It generated a huge cloud of ashes which is affecting the South of Chile and Argentina. (Photo by Ivan Konar/LatinContent/Getty Images) (credit:Ivan Konar/CON via Getty Images)
(23 of25)
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LLANQUIHUE, CHILE - APRIL 22: The Calbuco volcano erupts on April 22, 2015 near Puerto Varas in the Llanquihue Region, Chile. The volcano, considered as one of the most potentially dangerous in Chile, erupted for the first time in more than 42 years. It generated a huge cloud of ashes which is affecting the South of Chile and Argentina. (Photo by Ivan Konar/LatinContent/Getty Images) (credit:Ivan Konar/CON via Getty Images)
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A man distributes masks to prevent the harmful effects of the Calbuco volcano ashes, in Puerto Varas, on April 23, 2015. (credit:MARTIN BERNETTI via Getty Images)
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A man distributes masks to prevent the harmful effects of the Calbuco volcano ashes, in Puerto Varas, on April 23, 2015. (credit:MARTIN BERNETTI via Getty Images)

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