India's only active volcano is back from the dead after 150 years
Barren Islands volcano, India's only active volcano, is reportedly spewing lava and ash after a gap of 150 years. It erupted for about four hours in January, scientists from the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) claimed.
The volcano is situated in Barren Islands in the Andaman & Nicobar archipelago. Some unsubstantiated reports even claim that it is South Asia's only active volcano.
Its first recorded eruption dates back to 1787. Since then, the volcano has erupted more than ten times, including the one this year.
“On the afternoon of Jan. 23, 2017, the scientific team on board CSIR-NIO’s research ship R V Sindhu Sankalp were busy collecting sea floor samples in the Andaman Basin near the Barren volcano when it suddenly started spewing ash. The team moved about one mile from the volcano and began closely observing it. It was erupting in small episodes lasting about five to ten minutes," according to a statement issued by the Goa-based NIO.
It further added, "During the daytime only ash clouds were observed. However after sundown, the team observed red lava fountains spewing from the crater into the atmosphere and hot lava flows streaming down the slopes of the volcano."
The samples collected by the NIO team will help in deciphering the nature of the present and past volcanic activity in the region. The team, however, did not land on the island because it was considered too dangerous.
Scientists from CSIR-NIO have been surveying the Andaman Basin and they have identified many small submerged volcanoes in a linear chain called a volcanic arc.
The volcanic island is uninhabited and the northern part of the island is, as the name suggests, barren and devoid of vegetation. Private citizens of India can visit the island by chartered boats after obtaining permission of the Forest Department in Port Blair — the capital of the Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
