(Claw of Baryonyx walkeri) Baryonyx means 'heavy claw'. Unusually for a carnivorous dinosaur we know it ate fish as scientists have found fish scales and teeth with its fossil where its stomach would have been.

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The Power Within

Earthquakes and volcanoes are the most dramatic manifestations of the power of nature. Discover what causes these violent and destructive events, what they feel and look like, and how scientists work to predict them.

Gallery closure

From 24 February - autumn 2013 the Power Within gallery is closed for refurbishment. We apologise for any inconvenience.

Volcano

Step inside the volcano room in the gallery and find out how and why volcanoes erupt, when the intense heat at the centre of the Earth builds up. See live news coverage and reconstructions of Mount Pinatubo erupting in the Philippines in 1991. 

Part of the volcano display.

Explore the massive natural forces inside the Earth that make their effects felt on its surface. Find out what happens – above and below the ground – when a volcano erupts or when an earthquake takes place.

Lava flow

Watch footage of flowing lava and ash. Experience the large-screen film installation of dramatic underwater volcanic activity and hydrothermal vents. 

Under the volcano model.

Inside the volcano room, get an idea of what it’s like to be under a volcano in our gallery model. See the process of eruption from pressure building to cracks forming and molten rock spewing out. Touch lava rock and see pumice fragments expelled during an eruption.

Reconstructions of the casts of two Pompeii victims, a man and his dog.

When Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD, hardened volcanic ash preserved the remains of the inhabitants of nearby Pompeii. See reconstructions of the casts of 2 volcano victims – a man and a dog.

The earthquake machine.

Feel the power within for yourself as the earth shakes in the Kobe Supermarket earthquake machine. You can also witness the amazing effects of an earthquake, captured live on supermarket security cameras.

A car damaged in an earthquake

See first-hand the damage earthquakes can cause in populated areas, like this car crushed under a wall. The consequences of natural disasters can be devastating to people, their homes and possessions.

Columns of basalt.

Dramatic natural events account for the appearance of these columns of basalt. The rock was part of a lava flow that formed the extraordinary Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland. The lava shrank as it cooled, creating these multi-faceted shapes.

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