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Locals near Lake Managua in Nicaragua had a rude awakening on the night of December 2 when the Momotombo Volcano began erupting for the first time in over a century.

Small seismic swarms were felt back in 2013, but nothing ever came of them. Now, however, local schools and businesses are closing because of heavy ash fall and intense seismic activity near the site.

Aside from a bit of seismic activity here and there, the Momotombo Volcano has remained dormant since 1905.

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But all of that changed on December 2 when massive rumbles rocked nearby communities.

Twitter / Canal 6 Nicaragua

Plumes of smoke continue to billow out from the top of the immense volcano, and a steady stream of molten lava flows down the side of the mountain.

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Up until its last eruption in the twentieth century, this volcano was highly active. In fact, it erupted ten times between 1849 and 1905. All of that stopped until this week.

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Here’s what locals were met with that day:

Oh, and that’s not all. On the exact same day, Italy’s Mount Etna had a massive eruption of its own, spewing pillars of ash and lava into the air. What’s even weirder is that the plumes shot right up into a thunderstorm. To see it in action, check out the video below:

(via The Telegraph / International Business Times)

Needless to say, Earth was having a bad week. We all get upset, so we can’t really hold it against her. But when we fall into crappy moods, we don’t put people’s lives as risk. Fortunately, neither of these events caused anyone serious harm.

Ae you in the market for a new house, but don’t want the same thing that everyone else is getting? Are you looking for something truly unique? Well, this home might be the one for you — especially if you’ve always fancied living like a Bond villain.

Looking at these pictures, you might think that this is a movie set, but it’s a very real home. And this villain-worthy headquarters is on the market right now.

The house perches atop a 150-foot cinder cone.

Redfin

This formation is actually the geological corpse of an extinct volcano.

This dome-shaped home comes with an open floor plan and some impressive panoramic views.

Redfin

And sunsets up here are absolutely phenomenal.

Redfin

Located about 45 miles east of Barstow, California, the Volcano House used to belong to California’s Gold producer and host Huell Howser.

It sits on 60 acres of Mojave Desert land, and has some pretty stunning views of the arid landscape. It comes with two bedrooms and two baths, as well as a separate garage and upstairs apartment — the perfect lodging for your villainous minions!

The observation deck is great for taking in the view…

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…and keeping an eye on approaching superheroes.

This view is a nice trade-off for the fact that the home is in the middle of nowhere.

Redfin

And a remote location really is best for hatching plans for world domination.

Flash floods are common in these parts, so sometimes, you even have waterfront property!

Redfin

Redfin

(via Messy Nessy Chic, Redfin, Curbed)

Of course, a house like this won’t be cheap. The current asking price is $650,000. But if you’re a supervillain, you can always just hold the world hostage to get some funds together. While the house is still on the market and looking for a permanent owner, it’s also currently open to the public for vacation rentals, events, and photo shoots.

Even if you’re not a supervillain yet, you can at least pretend to be one for a little while.

When you think of lava, you probably imagine glowing red and orange liquid flowing over a rocky plain. And in most places, you’d be exactly right. Lava is typically orange and red.

But not always.

Photographer Reuben Wu learned this firsthand on a trip to Indonesia’s Ijen volcano, where he saw the aptly named Blue Fire Crater, which is famous for its molten sulfur lava that burns a brilliant sapphire blue.

This is Ijen from a distance.

Reuben Wu

Inside the crater, sulfur cooks at temperatures exceeding 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

The trek to see this blue lava is not an easy one.

Reuben Wu

It’s a two-hour hike up the mountain, and then another 45 minutes down into the crater itself.

But it’s worth it to see this incredible natural phenomenon.

Reuben Wu

There are other places on Earth that produce blue lava like this, but Ijen’s crater is the largest. For that reason, it’s a popular tourist destination, despite the climb.

To really capture the otherworldly magic of this place, Wu stayed until after dark, using only the light of the moon and of the lava itself to take his photos.

It doesn’t look real, but it is.

Reuben Wu

The molten sulfur is not only hot, but can also shoot sixteen feet into the air.

Reuben Wu

Reuben Wu

(via Colossal, Wikipedia)

You can see more of Wu’s photography on his website and Instagram, and more images of his trip to Indonesia on his Behance page.

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The Calbuco volcano, located in Southern Chile, erupted on April 22 of this year for the first time in four decades, and then again on April 30. Luckily, Chile’s government evacuated 4,000 people near the volcano and nobody was hurt.

But if the government hadn’t evacuated them, what those who stayed behind saw in the smoke billowing from the volcano might have made them leave anyway. The column that rose from Calbuco took a frightening form.

Take a look at what locals now call “The Angel of Death.”

imgur

imgur

imgur

Eerie, right? A couple weeks ago, the Chilean government said the volcano was back to “routine” levels of inactivity, making it safe to return to the area. But maybe they should wait until the smoke clears…