What is the name of the rapid stock market crash on May 6, 2010?

The rapid stock market crash on May 6, 2010, was called the Flash Crash.

The episode began during an already turbulent trading day, when concern about Greece’s debt crisis was weighing on markets. Around 2:32 p.m. Eastern time, U.S. equities fell sharply; the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost nearly 1,000 points at its worst intraday point before recovering much of the drop within minutes.

The disruption lasted about 36 minutes and briefly erased approximately $1 trillion in market value. Some individual securities traded at bizarre prices, including shares that momentarily fell to one cent, highlighting how fragmented electronic markets and automated orders could amplify a liquidity shock.

Investigations by the SEC and CFTC concluded that a large automated sale of E-mini S&P 500 futures helped exhaust available buyers, after which high-frequency traders rapidly traded among themselves and intensified the decline. The event led to stronger market safeguards, including improved circuit-breaker and limit-up/limit-down mechanisms. It is often confused with Black Monday, but that name refers chiefly to the 1987 crash.