The world’s biggest mud volcano is awful-smelling, continuously erupting, and a surprisingly popular tourist destination.
The world’s biggest mud volcano is awful-smelling, continuously erupting, and a surprisingly popular tourist destination.
In May 2006, a volcano of mud exploded in Sidoarjo, Indonesia. Likely triggered by the nearby drilling of a local fossil fuel corporation, the flows of hot mud displaced tens of thousands of Javanese villagers, and have continued to flow ever since.
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Today, with fields submerged by sludge, the area’s former agricultural industry has been replaced by disaster tourism: Sidoarjo villagers give tours to curious visitors from all around the world, and sell videos of the disaster that robbed them of their livelihoods and provided a new one.
