Why This Massive Mud Volcano Turned Deadly
The cause of the eruption is hotly debated, but a new study found that a tunnel of magma may have kept the site active for the past decade.
More than ten years ago, rivers of mud started spewing out of the ground in five different locations on the Indonesian island of Java. And it hasn’t stopped since.
The disaster, termed the Lusi mud eruption, is still spewing out mud and spans a little over six square miles. At its peak, the region was churning out over six million cubic feet of mud every day.
A study published in Marine and Petroleum Geology earlier this summer reviewed the extent of the damage. The scientists found that some villages have been buried in as much as 130 feet of relentless mud. Some 60,000 people have had to abandon their homes, and 13 people have been killed.
Now, a new study, published in
