India’s Only Live Volcano, Located In Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Is Active Again

The Barren island volcano, which has the distinction of being the only live volcano in India, has become active again. Located in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the volcano last erupted in 1991 after 150 years of inactivity. The volcano is located 140-km north-east of Port Blair, the capital city of the island chain.

Scientists from the Goa-based National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) were the first to notice signs of activity. "On the afternoon of January 23, 2017, the scientific team on board CSIR-NIO's research ship R V Sindhu Sankalp were busy collecting sea floor samples in the Andaman Basin near the Barren volcano when it suddenly started spewing ash," the NIO said in its statement.

The team of scientists has now moved closer to the volcano. Ash clouds have been observed near the volcano during day time and a group of scientists is collecting samples to study the nature of the activity.

“The volcano is erupting in small episodes of five to 10 minutes," said Abhay Mudholkar, the team leader of NIO monitoring group in the Andaman basin.

The Andaman basin is known for strong seismic and hydrothermal activity. Scientists have found a number of submerged volcanoes in the basin along a linear chain that they refer to as the ‘volcanic arc’.