Washington, Oct 31: Petroleum geologists from around the globe have concluded that the east Java mud volcano was triggered by drilling of a nearby gas exploration well, not by an earthquake.
Lusi, the volcano in question, started to erupt in East Java, Indonesia, on May 29th 2006, and is still spewing huge volumes of boiling mud over the surrounding area. It has displaced around 30,000 people from their homes and swamped 12 villages.
The cause of Lusi was recently considered at a debate at an International conference in Cape Town, South Africa, which concluded with a vote between 74 world-leading petroleum scientists who considered the evidence presented by four experts in the field.