Can you imagine if an active volcano was suddenly discovered in your city?
Taiwan is a tiny island near China. In North Taiwan, there are two cities - Taipei (the capital of Taiwan) and New Taipei. Between these two cities lies a group of twenty volcanoes called the Tatun Volcano Group (TVG).
For many years now steam has been blowing out of the cracks on these volcanoes. Not just that, even pools of cloudy water can be seen bubbling like boiling water!
People just thought that these were signs that these volcanoes were active millions of years ago. They never thought these volcanoes would ever erupt. But this was actually a sign that the TVG contained active volcanoes.
How did they realise it was a group of active volcanoes?
In 2017, a scientist named Lin Cheng-Horng, discovered proof of a huge magma chamber below Taipei. It was discovered that the TVG has been active this entire time! They got lucky that they discovered this fact before any of the volcanoes erupted.
What are the people going to do if the TVG erupts?
As you can imagine, this is a scary situation to be in! Especially because the TVG is close to two major cities full of people.
The Taiwanese government has installed sophisticated devices all around the TVG. If there’s even a hint that an eruption is about to happen, nearby cities would be emptied immediately. All people from these cities would be moved to safer areas.
What has happened in the past when volcanoes erupted close to a city?
About 2000 years ago, a volcano called Mount Vesuvius located near Pompeii (Italy) erupted. The lava destroyed the entire city. Many people lost their lives.
Fortunately, these days scientists have the technology to tell when a volcano will erupt. That helps stop disasters like Pompeii from happening.
Let’s hope the TVG keeps on sleeping, like it has for millions of years, and doesn’t get in a mood to erupt anytime soon.
