Lahars can bury valleys in volcanic mudflows within minutes
Lahars are fast volcanic mudflows — ash, rock, and water racing down river valleys, sometimes within minutes of an eruption, heavy rain, or a crater-lake breakout.
They can travel tens of kilometers, harden like concrete, and bury towns that felt far from the summit. Melting snow and ice on tall volcanoes often supply the water that turns ash into slurry.
Distance from a crater is not always safety. Lahars show volcanoes can weaponize ordinary river corridors long after lava stops glowing.
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