Natural disasters occur all over the planet, but it takes a particular kind of image of such a disaster to remind us of the true power of nature, and how helpless we are when it unleashes its wrath. These 18 photos will leave you humbled by its sheer, unbridled power:
1. Lava flows from Hawaii's Kilauea volcano
2. A crane in New York City snapped in half by Hurricane Sandy.
3. The sun shines through the hole in Hollow Rock on just a handful of days year.
4. Volcanic lightning appears above Iceland's erupting Eyjafjallajökull volcano.
5. Lenticular clouds gather over Oregon's Alvord Desert.
6. The trunk of this tree was still burning some three hours after being struck by lightning.
7. What a storm over the Pacific looks like from 37,000 feet.
8. Nature has reclaimed this abandoned road. It's now part of a river.
9. Hurricane Gonzalo as viewed from the International Space Station.
10. This puffer fish got lodged in a tree after a big storm in New England.
11. A rare green sky created by a storm front.
12. Strong winds lift the roof off of a building,
13. The power of a hurricane.
14. Wildfires take hold in the hills of California.
15. Lightning divides the sky in two.
16. Flooding devastates the main street of a small town.
17. The aftermath of an earthquake in Japan.
18. A thunderstorm and a tornado combined.
