A mud volcano erupted in the early hours of Wednesday in the city of Wandan in southern Taiwan’s Pingtung county, spewing jets of mud and flame up to 2 meters high for about three hours.
- historic solar storm NASA’s mission postponed to paint the sky with a rare aurora borealis. understand
The episode was captured in a video circulating on social media, in which residents observed the phenomenon and even threw burning rags into the opening, which ignited the released methane gas and caused a scene of fire and mud.
Zhang Baohui, chief priest of Huangyuan Temple in front of the eruption site, said this was the second such occurrence this year, the last time being six months ago. There were five openings at the site through which mud and gas were vented.
Wannai Village Mayor Chen Yuyi coordinated a team to dig a diversion channel and prevent the material from flowing into nearby crops.
Geologist Mark Tingay, speaking to the BBC, said Wandan mud volcanoes are rare and unstable. Usually eruptions occur at the same location, but new eruptions can occur several kilometers apart.
Eruptions occur when high-pressure underground gases, such as methane, mix with groundwater, dissolve rocks, and eject mud and steam across the earth’s surface.
About The Author
