From as early as 9:30 AM on December 24th, 2025, hot mud, rock, and gas spewed as high as 15 feet into the air from the Piparo Mud Volcano, marking the most significant activity at the mud volcano’s site since 1997.
Similar to the 2019-2020 unrest, land movement is occurring across the mud volcano’s surroundings, uplifting the roadway by 2 to 3 feet. The Piparo Road, one of the main evacuation routes west of the Piparo Mud Volcano, is now impassable.
As of 2:00 PM, the Piparo Road from the Guaracara Tabaquite Road has been closed by the TTPS near the Piparo Mud Volcano. Motorists can use Hoseinee Trace well north of the Piparo Mud Volcano to access the Guaracara Tabaquite Road. According to authorities, access can also be via Thomas Ross Road from Princes Town or via Piparo Road (on the eastern side of the mud volcano) from Tabaquite. The Couva/Tabaquite/Talparo Regional Corporation (CTTRC) Municipal Police is arranging for traffic barriers to be delivered and installed to facilitate the traffic management plan.
Additionally, a backhoe deployed by CTTRC has been dispatched to re-establish temporary emergency access for residents of Panchoo Trace and Robinson Road while assessments and mitigation works continue.
Eruptions of mud and gas have continued every 10 to 20 seconds, according to residents in the area, and remain quite loud, being heard up to 100 feet away.
As land movement continues, homes and utility poles/lines are shifting, leading to property damage and power outages, particularly on the south/southwestern side of the mud volcano.
Property damage due to the unrest at the Piparo Mud Volcano on December 24th, 2025. Damage to Piparo Road due to the unrest at the Piparo Mud Volcano on December 24th, 2025. Damage to Piparo Road due to the unrest at the Piparo Mud Volcano on December 24th, 2025. Property damage due to the unrest at the Piparo Mud Volcano on December 24th, 2025.
The Disaster Management Units from the Princes Town Regional Corporation (PTRC) and CTTRC are in Piparo, conducting assessments. The T&T Fire Service, T&T Police Service, T&TEC, and the Ministry of Works and Transport are monitoring the situation on site and are cordoning off hazardous areas.
Authorities are asking those who do not reside in Piparo to avoid entering the community until further notice.
Researchers from the University of the West Indies (UWI) have been monitoring the volcano and report that the system is evolving. During a meeting with villagers on May 24, Prof. Oshaine Blake and PhD candidate Kerneese Ramjarrie of UWI’s Geoscience Programme shared preliminary data indicating increased activity, stressing the need for vigilance and preparedness.
The University of the West Indies, St Augustine, Department of Chemical Engineering, Professor Oshaine Blake and PhD geoscience candidate Kerneese Ramjarrie, who are currently en route to the site, noted that heightened activity was predicted during the September–December 2025 period, which was shared with residents at a community meeting on May 24th.
According to Ms. Ramjarrie, the team will assess the damage and the information from gauges planted in the area, and further information will be shared with residents and authorities on the way forward.
Previous assessments, including those conducted in 2019 by geoscientist Xavier Moonan, warned of leaning vents, collapsing sections, and flammable gases emanating from fissures.
No evacuation orders are in place; evacuation plans and routes have been established, and residents are asked to remain on alert.
The Piparo mud volcano erupted on February 23rd, 1997, and a large part of the town was declared a disaster area. The mud volcano caused widespread damage, leaving 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 severely damaged by the tremors that 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 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 in March 1997 and December 2011, between September 2019 and February 2020 which caused nearby homes to be damaged and large cracks to develop across the area, and in March 2024.
