Baratang Island's mud volcano erupts after 20 years: Know more
Baratang Island in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands just saw its only mud volcano erupt for the first time since 2005.
On October 2, 2025, a loud bang signaled the eruption, creating a muddy mound about 3-4 meters high and covering over 1,000 square meters.
It's a rare natural event that drew significant attention.
What is a mud volcano?
Mud volcanoes happen when underground gasses push mud up to the surface, forming bubbling craters.
Baratang's mud volcano is one of India's unique spots—about 150km from Port Blair—and it stands out from regular lava volcanoes.
Authorities take precautions, halt tourist visits
Right after the eruption, authorities closed off all routes and paused tourist visits to keep everyone safe.
The Geological department was notified, and tourist transport to the mud volcano site was suspended for now.
Not to be confused with lava volcano
Just to clear things up: this is different from Barren Island's recent volcanic activity nearby.
Barren Island has South Asia's only active lava volcano—so what happened at Baratang is its own unique (and much muddier) story.