The ground gave way in a horrendous eruptive explosion. Molten lava and huge fragments of rock were hurled upwards. Rocks up to 20 meters across were thrown into the air. Globs of lava and glowing ash littered the countryside, falling in thick layers that welded together as they reached the ground, covering an area of over 600 square kilometers. Sticky, viscous, masses of rhyolite lava oozed up from the magma chamber below, finding its way through vents to the surface, where it squeezed up, toothpaste-like, to form bulbous plugs and domes in and near the caldera rim. The fiery breath of this enormous eruption exterminated life from horizon to horizon 17.5 million years ago.

This photo was taken by an Asahi Pentax 6 X 7 medium format film camera and SMC PENTAX 67 1:4 45mm lens with an 82mm Tiffen UV filter using Fuji 160NS film, the negative scanned by an Epson Perfection V600 and digitally rendered with Photoshop.