How long did the extreme price plunge last during the 2010 United States flash crash?

The extreme price plunge during the 2010 United States flash crash lasted about 36 minutes.

On May 6, 2010, U.S. stock indexes suddenly dropped and then largely recovered within the same afternoon. The Dow Jones Industrial Average briefly lost about 1,000 points, roughly 9%, before rebounding. Individual securities experienced extraordinarily large and temporary price movements, showing how electronic markets could amplify a sudden wave of selling.

A joint investigation by U.S. regulators concluded that a large automated order to sell E-mini S&P 500 futures helped trigger the event, while high-frequency trading and liquidity withdrawal intensified it. The episode was not a conventional multi-day bear market like the 1929 or 2008 collapses.

The exact mechanisms and responsibility were debated for years, and later legal proceedings focused on trader Navinder Singh Sarao’s role in spoofing activity. The key duration refers to the dramatic market disruption and recovery, not the time needed for regulators to investigate it.