Towering Inferno Erupts from Mud Volcano in the Caspian Sea

The Caspian Sea exploded into a towering inferno after a mud volcano erupted near Azerbaijan’s oil and gas fields. Initially, the incident was suspected to be an accident at one of the oil and gas rigs in the area but later, the researchers inspected and found that the reason is a mud volcano.

The incident occurred on July 4 around 9.30 pm local time, 6 miles away from Umid gas field, which is 45 miles away from Azerbaijan’s capital Baku and was active till next morning.

Mud volcanoes are rare kind of volcanoes that release numerous amount of water and mud instead of lava. Despite not being hot as a regular volcano, they contain a high concentration of natural gases that get added inside, triggering sparks from the fast-moving rocks beneath the surface of eruption.

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This can be one of the reasons why an inferno recently occurred in the Caspian Sea. Mud volcanoes usually occur on small islands created from eruptions and are also hidden below the surface and form temporary mounts above the water when active.

Image: Smithsonian Magazine

Azerbaijan is known to have around 400 of the 1000 mud volcanoes on Earth, earning the country the nickname “Land of Fire” according to BBC. Azerbaijan’s mud volcanoes are some of the biggest and most violent in the world.

There are several large eruptions that occur every year, many of which catch huge fires and explosions. The confirmed recent mud volcano occurred at Dashly Island.

Via: Live Science