Major eruption of Cacahual (El Aburrido) mud volcano in Antioquia, Colombia injures eight, damages homes
A major eruption of the Cacahual (El Aburrido) mud volcano in Antioquia, Colombia, on November 11, 2024, resulted in injuries to at least eight people and significant damage to nearby homes. The eruption produced a large fireball, affecting multiple communities and prompting evacuations for dozens of families. Cacahual’s history includes a fatal eruption in 1992 that resulted in seven deaths and 20 injuries.
Major eruption of Cacahual (El Aburrido) mud volcano in Antioquia, Colombia injures eight, damages homes on November 11, 2024. Image credit: La Chia de Uraba
A major eruption took place at the Cacahual mud volcano — also known as El Aburrido, between 16:30 and 17:00 local time on November 11, 2024, producing a very large fireball and injuring eight people, according to local authorities.
The volcano, located about 4.5 km (2.8 miles) northwest of El Tres (population 2 909) in Turbo, Antioquia, has impacted several communities, with 109 families living near the volcano and along nearby roads reporting damage to homes.
Shortly after the event, El Tres Mayor Alejandro Abuchar reported that three children were affected by smoke inhalation and lost consciousness momentarily. “They are being treated at the San Pedro de Urabá hospital,” Abuchar said.
Additionally, the Coordinator of Risk Management reported that five other people fainted due to the eruption. All individuals affected have been transported to local health facilities, with no reported severe injuries.
As part of the immediate response, officials have begun evacuating 16 families, including 30 children, from impacted areas to schools in Manta Gorda and Santiago de Urabá. In Los Mangos, authorities have also temporarily relocated 35 children to a local school to ensure their safety.
While initial media reports indicated that the nearby San José de Mulatos volcano may have erupted, subsequent assessments identified the eruption as originating from the Cacahual mud volcano, a highly active and significant mud volcano in the region.
In geological literature, the name “Cacahual” is widely recognized, although Google labels it as “El Aburrido,” adding to the naming confusion.
According to mud volcano expert Dr. Mark Tingay of the University of Adelaide, Cacahual is the biggest and most active mud volcano in that area of Colombia.
On October 18, 1992, a large earthquake registered as M7.2 hit Antioquia, causing landslides and triggering a fiery eruption of Cacahual. Tragically, this eruption killed 7 people and injured 20.
The Colombian Geological Service (SGC) released a statement confirming the eruption and announced plans to deploy a team to the affected area on November 12 to conduct field studies.
Cacahual is part of the Sinú Belt of mud volcanoes, a region spanning the Gulf of Urabá to Barranquilla, where hundreds of mud volcanoes have formed over millions of years due to geological processes. These formations result from mud diapirism, where bacterial activity on sediment-rich sludge produces gases that can trigger eruptions.
“Because this is a process that has occurred over nearly 20 million years, the accumulation of more and more sediment exerts high pressure on the organic matter and generates its partial transformation into gases, leading to bulges on the surface and the release of sludge, water, and methane gas due to differences between the density and chemical composition of the sludge rich in organic matter and the coarser sediments,” SGC said in a media release published today.
The threat posed by these types of volcanoes is related to the flow of mud toward crop and residential areas, the cracking of the ground, and the possible explosiveness of gases. In Colombia, mud volcanoes that have presented explosive events related to the release of methane gas are located in sparsely populated areas, SGC said.
The agency said it has initiated work to implement a monitoring network to expand knowledge on the activity of mud volcanoes in the Colombian Caribbean.
1 Qué son los volcanes de lodo y dónde están en Colombia? – SGC – November 12, 2024
2 Erupción de volcán en San José Mulatos de Turbo dejó al menos 109 familias afectadas y 8 personas atendidas en centros de salud – El Tiempo – November 12, 2024
I'm a dedicated researcher, journalist, and editor at The Watchers. With over 20 years of experience in the media industry, I specialize in hard science news, focusing on extreme weather, seismic and volcanic activity, space weather, and astronomy, including near-Earth objects and planetary defense strategies. You can reach me at teo /at/ watchers.news.
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