On Wednesday evening, March 20th, 2024, shortly after 6:00 PM, increased minor expulsions of mud and gas began at the peak of the Piparo Mud Volcano, located in Piparo. As the night progressed, the volcano’s main cone continued to grow, with occasional bursts of mud and gas through the main vent and surrounding cracks.
As of early Thursday, March 21st, 2024, activity remained confined to the main cone of the mud volcano.
No evacuation orders are in place, with evacuation plans and routes established, and residents are asked to be on alert. All necessary authorities have been notified. Scientists from the University of the West Indies will visit the mud volcano later today.
The Piparo mud volcano erupted on February 23rd, 1997, and a large part of the town was declared a disaster area after the mud volcano erupted. The mud volcano caused widespread damage that left 108 people homeless. Three houses, more than a dozen vehicles, and scores of farm animals, poultry, and house pets were buried under tons of gaseous grey mud, which spewed some 200 feet into the air when the volcano blew. Eleven other houses were partially submerged under the mud. And several others were badly damaged by the tremors which accompanied the eruption. More than 300 people within a one-mile radius of the volcano had to be evacuated.
The eruption displaced 31 families. Fifteen cars, four pick-up vans, some 15 cattle, 13 goats, scores of poultry, and pets were buried. The early morning eruption sent residents screaming and scampering in panic from the tumbling grey mud, which pulled down electricity poles and telephone wires, ripped apart pipes, and knocked down huge trees.
A nearby temple, Aum Kar Hindu Temple, and convicted murderer Dole Chadee’s temple were cracked in several places. Tombstones in the Piparo Cemetery tilted, and fissures erupted along the road for more than a mile. The eruption rocked areas for miles around. Damage was estimated at millions of TT Dollars.
The Piparo Mud Volcano has previously experienced periods of unrest, including March 1997 and December 2011, and the last occurred between September 2019 and February 2020. This caused nearby homes to be damaged and large cracks to develop across the area.
