A fresh study of the Lusi mud volcanoes in East Java, which began erupting in May 2006, concludes that the disaster was caused by a natural phenomenon, but has been met with widespread public scepticism in Indonesia, with one prominent local geologist questioning its validity.
According to the study, published in Nature Geoscience on 21 July, the mud eruption was caused by seismic waves that travelled from Yogyakarta earthquake in Java, Indonesia, two days prior to the eruption.
But careless gas drilling has also been blamed for the mudflow that continues to spew boiling mud, inundating 13 villages and displacing over 30,000 residents. Some experts believe it will continue to erupt for decades. (more…)