Mud Volcano Island Emerges off Trinidad

An undersea mud volcano has created a new small island off the eastern coast of Trinidad.

An undersea volcano off the east coast of Trinidad and Tobago emerged above the ocean surface, belching methane gas along with a slurry of mud and sediment.

On Monday, workmen returning from an offshore oil platform reported to the country's Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management that they had seen what was described as "some volcanic activity" about four to five miles off Radix Point.

The new island rises only a few inches above the Atlantic and is approximately 500 feet long.

Roderick Stewart, a seismologist at the University of the West Indies in St. Augustine, said large waves are washing away the mud and the emerging island may soon disappear.

A similar event occurred in 2001 when a mud volcano grew 5 feet above Trinidad and Tobago’s coastal waters in an area of extensive oil and gas production.

The island collapsed and disappeared beneath the water several days later.

In 1997, a mud volcano began spewing on land in the village of Piparo, burying 10 houses.

Photo: Richard Robertson - University of the West Indies