Reservoir nearby a Mud Volcano

To see the eruption better, click to enlarge

Today is my seventh day in Surabaya (East Java, Indonesia). Last Sunday morning, my husband and I fetched up my second brother and his wife at the airport. After chatted for a while, we decided not to go home straightly, but continued the journey to the location of mud volcano eruption at Porong, Sidoarjo (East Java, Indonesia).

We reached the place in one hour. Since the first eruption at May, 2006, it’s my first time to see it with my own eyes. This under ground mud volcano is commonly called as the Sidoarjo mud flow or Lapindo mud. It’s one of the biggest mud volcanoes in the world that created by the blowout of a natural gas well drilled by PT. Lapindo Brantas, although the company officials argued that it’s caused by a distant earthquake.

Though the recent spewing up mud volume has already decreased to the half of the amount at its peak (180.000 m3 of mud per day), I still can see it as the big disaster that has affected many people’s life around the area of 1.500 ha. This mud volcano located near the city that full of people, villages, houses, and factories; you can imagine how huge the effect is!

It’s expected that the flow will maintain for the next 25 to 30 years. Since November 2008, the Sidoarjo mud flow has been contained by levees. The visitors aren’t allowed nearing the gush point. We only saw it from a far distance.

Two reservoirs are made to receive the water from the mud lake. Last Sunday, I saw that only one lake that full of water. Seeing the flooded ruins really made me sad. Until now, there’s still a controversy about the real cause; the people around who suffered the most are still screaming for justice.Watery Wednesday
source:wikipedia