Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Natural hazards

Triggered mud eruption?

The Indonesian government ruled that the Lusi mud eruption was triggered by drilling and held an oil company responsible. Instead, a curved rock layer capping the mud reservoir may have amplified passing seismic waves and the trigger may have been natural.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Mud flow in Sidaorjo, Indonesia.

© STRINGER / INDONESIA / REUTERS / CORBIS

References

  1. Davies, R. J. et al. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 272, 627–638 (2008).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Tingay, M., Heidbach, O., Davies, R. & Swarbrick, R. Geology 36, 639–642 (2008).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Mazzini, A. et al. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 261, 375–388 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Mazzini, A. et al. Marine Petrol. Geol. 26, 1751–1765 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Lupi, M., Saenger, E. H., Fuchs, F. & Miller, S. A. Nature Geosci. 6, 642–646 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Mellors, R., Kilb, D., Aliyev, A., Gasanov, A. & Yetirmishli, G. J. Geophys. Res. 112, B043041–11 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Davies, R. J., Manga, M., Tingay, M., Lusianga, S. & Swarbrick, R. Marine Petrol. Geol. 27, 1651–1657 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Sawolo, N., Sutriono, E., Istadi, B. P. & Darmoyo, A. B. Marine Petrol. Geol. 26, 1766–1784 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Sawolo, N., Sutriono, E., Istadi, B. P. & Darmoyo, A. B. Marine Petrol. Geol. 27, 1658–1675 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Istadi, B. P., Pramono, G. H., Sumintadireja, P. & Alam, S. Marine Petrol. Geol. 26, 1724–1739 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Berry, M. V. Adv. Phys. 25, 1–26 (1976).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Husker, A. L., Kohler, M. D. & Davis, P. M. Bull. Seismol. Soc. Am. 96, 147–164 (2006).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Bak, P. How Nature Works: The Science of Self-Organized Criticality (Copernicus, 1996).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  14. Manga, M. & Brodsky, E. Ann. Rev. Earth Planet. Sci. 34, 263–291 (2006).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Brodsky, E. E., Roeloffs, E., Woodcock, D., Gall, I. & Manga, M. J. Geophys. Res. 108, 2390 (2003).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Paul Davis.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Davis, P. Triggered mud eruption?. Nature Geosci 6, 592–593 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo1899

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo1899

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing