Every 10 to 12 thousand years, there’s a volcano in the heart of Europe that goes boom. And not just any boom, but a let’s-kill-everyone-with-billions-of-tonnes-of-magma boom that would cover everything in ash from England and Denmark to the north of Italy.
It’s been 12,900 years since the last eruption. The supervolcano is located under the Laacher See, a caldera lake in the Eifel mountain range, 24kms from Koblenz and 48kms from Bonn, the old capital of West Germany.
Scientists are saying that the volcano can go now at any time, although there are no official alerts. They are just watching for now. Seismological activity started in 2010, with the latest movements happening last February, when a series of seven earthquakes ranging from 2.0 to 4.5 magnitude were registered in the area.
The lake has been bubbling since with with carbon dioxide gas that comes from the magma under the lake’s bed. Maybe this is what Europe needs to get out of the Euro crisis.
I wonder what would happen to the world’s weather if this, the deadly Mount Tambora and the Yellowstone hypermegasupervolcano explode at the same time. I can already imagine the 2012 doomsday idiots screaming “I told y*” before getting engulfed in flames. [Daily Mail]
Alan Grieve
Tuesday, January 3, 2012 at 8:28 AMThe Lake Toba supervolcano in Sumatra:
(1) dwarfs Yellowstone
(2) erupts on a cycle of 80 000 years, not millions like Yellowstone
(3) last erupted 80 000 years ago
Bas
Tuesday, January 3, 2012 at 8:47 AMGreat, the Daily Mail as a single source and that article isnt even build on ANY facts that hasnt been there for hundereds of years… It’s going to be a long year…… Fearmongering Gets Started in 2012: Laacher See is Not “Ready to Blow”: http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/01/fearmongering-gets-started-in-2012-laacher-see-is-not-ready-to-blow/
Thanioti
Tuesday, January 3, 2012 at 9:06 AMGood bye anglo germanic establishment =(
Thankyou for schnitzel and global imperialism
AAron
Tuesday, January 3, 2012 at 3:38 PMmmmm schnitzel
DarthDVD
Tuesday, January 3, 2012 at 9:09 PMyou forgot Octoberfest as well.
Jamie
Tuesday, January 3, 2012 at 9:14 AMAbout 3000 kilometers to the right, and I’d be ok with this.
Antipodean
Tuesday, January 3, 2012 at 10:53 AMIf you’re talking about the US? there’s already one there, it’s called the Yellowstone Super Volcano and it’s been rising about 3″ a year for over a decade, although it is slowing down!
AshR
Tuesday, January 3, 2012 at 12:21 PMUmm… Right as in East… = Russia not the US
chris
Tuesday, January 3, 2012 at 11:57 PMor afghan, iraq….
Ash
Tuesday, January 3, 2012 at 10:38 AMYay, no more Eurovision!
Salmonpie
Tuesday, January 3, 2012 at 10:50 AMThis year is going to be like 1999 lots of people declaring the end is nigh and judgment day or whatever is coming. If it does go off tho, yikes!
TH
Tuesday, January 3, 2012 at 5:23 PMThis comment has been deemed inappropriate and has been deleted
Dani
Tuesday, January 3, 2012 at 7:00 PMYeah sorry, but the daily mail should not be viewed as any kind of resource for the news. google the amount of things they claim cause cancer for a quick giggle.
DarthDVD
Tuesday, January 3, 2012 at 9:12 PM/me can’t wait until this 2012 caper is over and everyone then finds out what a load of bunk the mayan calinder was. http://xkcd.com/998/
carmykal
Wednesday, January 4, 2012 at 1:24 AMWell now, that stuffed Hitler’s thousand year Reich up… regardless…
Begun, the hysteria has.
Nicole peulevey
Saturday, May 19, 2012 at 4:28 AMHello ! Forgive my English, I am French.
Well, at least all this will have given good reason for talking and joining in the fun !!! I do think that’s a bad joke, but should it prove true, I live rignt on the border of this infernal circle – but still inside it. Yikes indeed, if this thing ever goes nuts. Let’s cross fingers it doesn’t.
Love