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Volcanologist warns of volcano threat

04 June 2011 19:52 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. A prominent Cambridge volcanologist, Clive Oppenheimer, has warned about the possibility of a super-volcano before the end of this century, APA reports quoting Press TV.

Talking during the 2011 Hay Festival of Literature and the Arts, Oppenheimer said he had evidence that there was a one-in-500 chance of the earth being hit by a volcano.

â€œThe events in Japan remind us that you can have a tsunami and earthquake and a nuclear plant there as well and you can have these chain reaction events that are actually quite calamitous and they are not unimaginable,â€ said the Cambridge University reader.

Examining geological, historical and archeological records, the expert reminded his audience to major natural disasters of the 2010, including the Eyjafjallajokull eruption in Iceland that threatened the world by large-scale clouds of ash.

Oppenheimer also explained that â€œlarge earthquakes (category eight or thereabouts) can trigger volcanoes up to 1000km away, and that this year’s devastating earthquake off Japan’s coast could trigger another volcano in the vicinity.â€

â€œGlobal warming and melting of the ice caps will also have an effect, because a lot of volcanoes are under the ice which, when you remove that loading, will also statistically be more likely to erupt.â€ he added.

Oppenheimer warned that if such an eruption was to happen tomorrow, the world would be far more vulnerable with the huge effects, both to people and to the technological world.

The volcano expert also statistically warned that within the next six months there is likely to be an eruption in Japan as a result of the recent catastrophic tsunami and earthquake in the country.