2011

Since it roared to life in May 2006, a mud volcano near Indonesia's coastal city of Sidoarjo has swallowed homes, rice paddies, factories, and roads, killing 15 people, displacing 40,000, and harming the livelihoods of many more. As the ongoing eruption nears its 5th anniversary, observers wonder whether it will ever stop. The answer: Not anytime soon. A new study predicts the volcano will continue spewing significant amounts of mud for another 2 decades. A second study forecasts that it could grind on as long as 87 years.

The health of students at two elementary schools and two kindergartens in Pejarakan and Besuki villages, which have yet to be relocated at the hot mudflow disaster in Sidoarjo, East Java, is at risk because of the methane gas they breathe.

A 50-meter section of a retaining wall built to stem the flow of mud from the ongoing mud volcano disaster in Siring village, Porong district in Sidoarjo, East Java, started to sink on Thursday.

There's a new island in the azure waters off Pakistan, but you might want to hold off on vacation planning: The tiny dot is a mud volcano that will likely disappear before it sees 1,001 Arabian nights.