Eruption from the Wandan Mud Volcano, Taiwan.

A mud volcano beneath a temple in the village of Wannei, near Kaohsiung in Pingtung County, Taiwan, erupted at about 6.00 am local time on Friday 8 April 2022, breaking a window and inundating the interior of the temple with mud. The Wandan Mud Volcano typically erupts 1-3 times a year from several different locations in Wannei and neighbouring villages. This is the second eruption beneath the Huang Yuan Sheng Tien (皇源聖殿) temple within a year, following an eruption in October 2021. 

 

(Top) A mud volcano erupting beneath the Huang Yuan Sheng Tien (皇源聖殿) temple in Wannei village, Taiwan, on 8 April 2022. (Bottom) Damage to the exterior of the building following the eruption. Taiwan English News.

The eruption happened about 90 minutes before a Magnitude 5.7 Earthquake at a depth of 10 km, roughly 30 km to the south of Taiwan, and it is likely that the two events were connected. Mud volcanoes are the result not of hot magma rising up from deep within the Earth, but of liquids or gasses being released suddenly from rocks into soft sediments, resulting in dramatic upwelling of mud and gas. The mud volcanoes of southern Taiwan are strongly associated with motion on the subduction zone beneath the island, although it is not generally possible to prove a connection between events, and on this occasion the Taiwan Central Weather Bureau has cast doubt on the idea that there is a direct connection, because of the time and distance between the two events.

 

The approximate location of the 8 April 2022 Taiwan Earthquake. USGS.

Taiwan has a complex tectonic setting, lying on the boundary between the Eurasian and Philippine Plates, with the Eurasian Plate being subducted beneath the Philippine Plate in the South and the Philippine Plate being subducted beneath the Eurasian in the East. Subduction is not a smooth process even in simple settings, with plates typically sticking together as pressure from tectonic expansion elsewhere builds up, then suddenly breaking apart and shifting abruptly, causing Earthquakes.

The motion of the tectonic plates beneath Taiwan. The University of Memphis.

Eruptions from other vents of the Wandan Mud Volcano are often controlled by igniting them (the gas being released is methane), which reduces the activity of the eruption, and the amount of mud and slurry produced. However, people are (understandably) reluctant to do this when eruptions occur beneath the temple, and the eruption is generally allowed to run its course naturally. This can be a problem, as these eruptions can produce significant amounts of mud, which if allowed to run freely are likely to smother crops in nearby fields.

 

Mud within the interior of the Huang Yuan Sheng Tien (皇源聖殿) temple following an eruption on the Wandan Mud Volcano on 8 April 2022. Pingtung Residents/Facebook.

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Residents of Piparo, central Trinidad, on alert as mud volcano shows signs of erupting.

Residents of the village of Piparo in central Trinidad are on alert after the Piparo Mud Volcano began showing signs of activity towards the end of September 2019, for the first time since 1997, when an eruption damaged more than thirty houses in the area. The mud volcano began to make rumbling noises around the middle of September, which it kept up for about a week before falling silent. An areal survey by drone carried out by the Young Professionals Trinidad and Tobago Chapter of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists on 29 September found that extensive cracks had appeared around the site of the mud volcano, and the centre of the site had subsided by over a metre. Since then the site has undergone several bouts of audible rumbling, and a seismic survey has suggested that the site is continuing to subside, and that much of the ground is water-logged, something that adds to the risk of eruptions, as water-logged soil has less cohesion and is therefore less resilient to gas upwellings.

Aerial photograph on the Piparo Mud Volcano taken on 29 September 2019, showing ground cracking around the site. American Association of Petroleum Geologists Young Professionals Trinidad and Tobago Chapter.

Mud volcanoes are the result not of hot magma rising up from deep within the Earth, but of liquids or gasses being released suddenly from rocks into soft sediments, resulting in dramatic upwelling of mud and gas. Trinidad sits on extensive hydrocarbon reserves, which sometimes results in gas permeating up through the ground at sites such as Piparo, resulting in explosive eruptions at the surface. The Piparo Mud Volcano typically erupts every twenty to thirty years, having last done so on 22 February 1997, when an eruption covered an area of 2.5 km².

Cracks in the ground around the site of the Piparo Mud Volcano. Rishi Ragoonath/Trinidad & Tobago Guardian.

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New island off the coast of Pakistan has largely vanished.

An island which formed off the coast of Pakistan following a Magnitude 7.7 Earthquake in September 2013 has largely disappeared. The island, named Zalzala Koh (which means 'Earthquake Mountain' in Urdu), is thought to have been caused by a mud volcano, the result of liquids or gasses being released suddenly from rocks into soft sediments, resulting in dramatic upwelling of mud and gas.The new island was found to be venting methane in a number of places, leading to the conclusion that a sudden change of pressure caused methane ice buried in the mud to thaw, causing it to expand rapidly and raise sediment to form the new island. Frozen methane in marine sediments is quite common, as the gas freezes at quite high temperatures under pressure. Mud volcanoes are a fairly common occurrence in Balochistan, though where they occur offshore, as is the case with this one, they are often eroded away by the sea fairly quickly.

 Series of satellite images of the Pakistan Coast near the port of Gwadar in Balochistan, taken between April 2013 and April 2019, showing the appearance and disappearance of the new island. Earth Observatory/NASA.

The Earthquake which formed the island had an epicentre roughly 400 km to the north of where the island formed, was felt as far away as New Delhi and Dubai, and resulted in over 800 fatalities, mainly in the Arawan District, where many buildings collapsed (around 90% of buildings were destroyed in communities close to the epicentre).

 Villagers in Labach in Arawan District forced to sleep outside following the destruction of their homes by the 24 September 2013 Earthquake. Arshad Butt/AP.

When Zalzala Koh first emerged it was roughly 18 m high and covered an area of approximately 30 by 76 m. However, it was formed entirely of unconsolidated mud and sand, and has been slowly washed away by the waters of the Arabian Sea since this time, and is no longer visible above the surface, though the water around the site of the former island is still prone to swirling turbulence, which indicates there is still a structure close to the water surface.

Residents of Gwadar investigating the new island on 25 September 2013. Behram Balochi/AFP/Getty Images.

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Eruption on Otman-Bozdag Mud Volcano in Azerbaijan.

The Otman-Bozdag Mud Volcano on the Baku Peninsula of Azerbaijan erupted on Sunday 23 September 2018, for the first time since February 2017. The eruptions began with an event slightly before 9.00 am local time, which produced a column of flame rising 200-300 m into the air. A second, similar eruption occurred an hour later. A number of deep cracks have appeared on the flanks of the volcano, with the deepest estimated to reach about 40 m bellow the surface.

Eruption on the Otman-Bozdag Mud Volcano on 23 September 2018. Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan Republic.

Mud volcanoes are the result not of hot magma rising up from deep within the Earth, but of liquids or gasses being released suddenly from rocks into soft sediments, resulting in dramatic upwelling of mud and gas. There are over 400 mud volcanoes in Azerbaijan, more than half of all the mud volcanoes in Asia. These are fuelled by a deep, hydrocarbon-rich mud reservoir beneath the peninsula, which seeps material to the surface across the region.

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Mysterious eruption in Manipur.

Press sources in India are reporting a mysterious 'volcanic' eruption that took place on Sunday 13 October 2013, close to the village of Tusom in the Ukhrul District of Manipur State in northeast India. The eruption apparently comprised a loud explosion, followed by boulders rolling down a hill, followed by a 'lava-like' substance which scorched plants and trees. The event led to the blocking of a road connecting Tusom to Somra in Myanmar. Indian officials have declined to comment on whether this is a true volcanic eruption until an investigation has taken place.

The approximate location of the 13 October 2013 Manipur eruption. Google Maps.

There are currently no active volcanoes in the India/Myanmar border region, or indeed anywhere in mainland South or Southeast Asia, however the region is located on the boundary between the Indian and Eurasian Plates, two tectonic plates currently in a state of collision, so volcanic activity here is, at least in theory, possible.

However it is also possible that the source of the eruption is a mud volcano, the result not of hot magma rising up from deep within the Earth, but of liquids or gasses being released suddenly from rocks into soft sediments, resulting in dramatic upwelling of mud and gas. A number of such mud volcanoes are known in northern Myanmar, associated with gasses which are released from oil fields there during (fairly frequent) earthquakes. Since the gasses released by these events are highly flammable, explosions and burning of vegetation are a possible side effect of such eruptions.

A fiery eruption from a mud volcano on the Baku Peninsula in Azerbaijan in October 2001. While this superficially resembles a true volcanic eruption, it is caused entirely by the venting of flammable gas from the oil fields beneath the area. Azerbaijan 24.

See also Eruptions on Barren Island, Magnitude 7.7 Earthquake in Balochistan; over 350 dead and new island created, Two significant Earthquakes in Sagaing Region, northern Myanmar, Magnitude 4.5 Earthquake in Arunachal Pradesh, India and Magnitude 5.0 Earthquake in northern Myanmar.

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Magnitude 7.7 Earthquake in Balochistan; over 350 dead and new island created.

The United States Geological Survey recorded a Magnitude 7.7 Earthquake at a depth of 15 km in Baluchistan Province in southeast Pakistan, slightly before 4.30 pm local time (slightly before 11.20 am GMT) on Tuesday 24 September 2013. This is an extremely large and dangerous Earthquake, and was felt as far away as New Delhi and Dubai. Over 350 casualties have been recorded already, a number which is likely to rise sharply, and buildings have been destroyed across Arawan District, where the quake occurred. Villages close to the epicenter are said to have had around 90% of homes destroyed; building collapses are a particular danger in Baluchistan as many buildings are made of mud bricks, which can liquify in Earthquakes forming a fine dust which asphyxiates people trapped beneath fallen structures. There have been a number of aftershocks in the area, several of which have been Earthquakes in excess of Magnitude 5.

Villagers in Labach in Arawan District forced to sleep outside following the destruction of their homes by the 24 September 2013 Earthquake. Arshad Butt/AP.

The quake also lead to the formation of a new island off the coast of Gwadar, roughly 400 km to the southwest of the event's epicenter. This is roughly 18 m high and covers an area of approximately 30 by 76 m. Earthquakes on thrust belts can form hills and islands by forcing rock formations up over other rocks (this is how most mountains are formed, though not by single events), but on this occasion the new island is thought to be the result of a mud volcano, according to geologists from the Pakistan Navy. Mud volcanoes are not true volcanoes (caused by hot magma from deep within the Earth) but are the result of liquids or gasses being released suddenly from rocks into soft sediments, resulting in dramatic upwelling of mud and gas. In this gas the new island has been found to be venting methane in a number of places, leading to the conclusion that a sudden change of pressure caused methane ice buried in the mud to thaw, causing it to expand rapidly and raise sediment to form the new island. Frozen methane in marine sediments is quite common, as the gas freezes at quite high temperatures under pressure. Mud volcanoes are a fairly common occurrence in Baluchistan, though where they occur offshore, as is the case with this one, they are often eroded away by the sea fairly quickly.

Residents of Gwadar investigating the new island on 25 September 2013. Behram Balochi/AFP/Getty Images.

The quake occurred directly on the Makran Fault, along which the Arabian Plate to the south is being subducted beneath the Eurasian Plate to the north. The Arabian Plate is being pushed northward by the movement of the African Plate to the south, as well as expansion beneath the Red Sea caused by the formation of new oceanic crust. To the west the continental portion of the Arabian Plate is in contact with the Eurasian Plate, causing folding and uplift that is leading to the formation of the Zagros Mountains. In the east oceanic crust attached to the Arabian Plate is being subducted beneath the Eurasian Plate, causing uplift on the Iranian Plateau, which underlies Baluchistan, eastern Iran and the southwest of Afghanistan. This subduction is not a smooth process, with the rocks constantly sticking together then breaking apart as the pressure builds up. 

The approximate location of the 25 September 2013 Baluchistan Earthquake. Google Maps.

See also Magnitude 4.5 Earthquake in the Zagros Mountains of western Iran, Magnitude 4.8 Earthquake in the Zagros Mountains of western Iran, Magnitude 4.1 Earthquake in western Iran, Magnitude 4.5 Earthquake in southern Fars Province, Iran and At least 12 fatalities after a Magnitude 5.6 Earthquake in eastern Afghanistan.

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