Tarun Karthick
Sri Vijaya Puram, 03 October 2025
The mud volcano near Jarawa Creek Village in Baratang, a popular tourist spot, erupted at around 11:00 AM on 2 October 2025, sending a mixture of mud, water, and gases over a large area surrounding the volcanic opening.
Just before the eruption, a video was recorded showing Mr. Yousuf Khan, an ex-serviceman and local resident, warning tourists to stay away from the volcano, as it was making unusual noises and could erupt. In the video, he cautioned that anyone venturing too close could get trapped if the volcano erupted.
Locals praised Mr. Khan on a regional WhatsApp group for alerting others, which likely prevented accidents, as the eruption later spread mud slurry across several hundred meters.
Baratang’s mud volcanoes are formed due to geological activity beneath the Earth’s surface, including tectonic compression and the release of gases and fluids from underground sediments. Here, the Indian tectonic plate is subducting beneath the Burmese plate, releasing gases such as methane and hydrogen sulfide, along with mud and water through fault lines. Unlike magma volcanoes, these mud volcanoes erupt mud and fluids due to overpressure in sediment layers, often triggered or intensified by seismic activity.
The erupted material, known as mud breccia, carries fragments of rock, minerals, and organic-rich mud from deep underground. Locals were reportedly surprised by the scale of Thursday’s eruption. The flowing slurry also damaged rails and other eco-friendly infrastructure installed for tourists at the site.
Last month, the Barren Island Volcano—India’s only active volcano—erupted twice within eight days, on 13 and 20 September 2025. Although Baratang’s mud volcanoes and Barren Island are geologically distinct, the close timing of their eruptions has sparked curiosity among residents.
