Indonesian Mud Volcano Eruption Caused by Drilling

The Indonesian Lusi mud volcano, which erupted on May 28, is still spilling out millions of liters of mud each day. However, the theories that are trying to explain what happened range from the influence of an earthquake to the misconduct of a drilling company prospecting for natural gas in the area, Lapindo Brantas. An international conference was held last Thursday in Cape Town, South Africa, in which participants tried to clear out the mystery.
 

One of the points of view was that a minor earthquake shook the ground sufficiently enough to trigger the eruption. The topology of the area backs up this claim to a certain extent, in that the region is very prone to be destabilized by earth movements. The representatives of Lapindo Brantas presented geological evidence to back up their claims, which were also supported by University of Oslo geologist Adriano Mazzini.
 

According to the scientists, in the night in question, the company was alerted to a large influx of saline water in the shaft they had drilled, so it was sealed off immediately. However, around 21.30 PM, the readings showed a sudden drop in pressure inside the well, which could only mean that the water found a way out of the chamber.
 

This is where the company's explanation stops and that of the opponents begins. Other scientists say that the only place the water could go was inside the volcano. Richard Davies, a geologist at the Durham University in the UK, backed up by most of the international scientific community, says that the flow of salty water in the volcano caused the pressure inside to shift and the mud to be pumped out.
 

After the conference was over, 42 scientists thought the company had caused the disaster, 3 agreed it was an earthquake, 13 said it was a combination of the two elements, while 16 felt the evidence was inconclusive. As a result, the situation remains unresolved, while the Indonesian national authorities are still struggling to contain the situation.