Ancient blast still risk

ANCIENT supervolcanoes remain active and hazardous for thousands of years after a super-eruption, prompting the need for a rethink of how these potentially catastrophic events are predicted, scientists say.

Researchers from Curtin University investigated the fate of magma left behind after the Toba super-eruption in Indonesia 75,000 years ago, finding it continued to ooze out for 5000 to 13,000 years after.

“Eruptions can occur even if no liquid magma is found underneath a volcano – the concept of what is ‘eruptible’ needs to be re-evaluated,” Curtin’s Martin Danišík said.