Mud volcano erupts in Shamakhi
By Laman Ismayilova
The mud volcano, which began to erupt in the morning of January 15 in Gushchu village of Azerbaijan’s Shamakhi region does not pose a danger to the population and cultivated areas.
The Chief Architect of the Executive Power of the region Rustam Aliyev told Trend that the situation is controlled.
“It’s a small volcano. Mud volcano erupts once a year on this territory A few days ago there was another eruption, which was informed by the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources. The Ministry and the Shamakhi Executive Power keep the situation under control. At the moment, the volcano is not active,” said Aliyev.
He added that the mud volcano is 300-400 meters from the village.
Bashir Bakhramo, the resident of Gushchu village said that there are no agricultural works on the territory in one hectare around the volcano.
“Mud spread to the territory of 60 square meters. Now the situation is stable,” he said.
The volcano began to erupt on January 15 at about 1:00am. The local residents were awakened by the sound of the volcano.
The mud lava rose to a height of about 10 meters and spread to a territory of 1.5 hectares, APA reported. The last time this volcano erupted in 2005. There are about 15 houses in the distance of 20-30 meters from the eruption site. The houses were not damaged.
Mud volcanoes are extremely common on Earth, while over 400 of about 1,000 mud volcanoes of the world are located in Azerbaijan, with the majority in Absheron and Gobustan. They can range from a few metres across to the size of a small mountain.
Every 20 years or so, volcano ignites and its flame height can reach hundreds of meters.
For instance, Keyraki mud volcano erupted in Baku on June 12. The Ecology and Natural Resources Ministry reported that the eruption lasted for 15 minutes and the mud waste covered an area of 3.5 hectares.
Lokbatan mud volcano erupted on the shore of the Caspian Sea oil field in May. A depth of the volcano reached 4 kilometers, while the eruption lasted for only 4 minutes.
Otman Bozdag volcano, is one of the biggest in the world, erupted in the suburb of Baku in February 2017. As a result of the volcanic eruption, the flame rose to the height of 350 meters. Mud waste covered an area of about 10-12 hectare.
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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova
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