Indonesians mark 20 years since mud volcano eruption swallowed up entire communities in East Java

Residents in the East Java province of Indonesia have scattered flowers and paid their respects and prayed at the edge of a mud lake. They were marking the 20th anniversary on Friday of the eruption of the Lusi mud volcano that inundated villages and killed at least 14 people. Scientific research shows that the eruption in May 2006 was likely triggered by commercial gas drilling. Residents gathered to remember those killed and the homes and neighborhoods they once lived in before boiling mud slowly swallowed them up in the Porong subdistrict in Sidoarjo. Experts have been searching for ways to slow the spread of the sludge. But all measures have failed. The volcano continues to erupt to this day.

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