Huge mud volcano could stop erupting by 'end of decade'

            A huge mud volcano that's been erupting continuously for seven years could stop sooner than expected, say scientists.

            It had been thought that the eruption of Lusi volcano, which is Indonesia in south-east Asia, would keep going until the 2030s. But new satellite data now shows it's likely to stop by the end of this decade.

            The eruption of the mud volcano started in 2006 and is the largest of its kind. It forced tens of thousands of people to move away. But now Professor Manga from the University of California in America says: "By 2017, it should be more or less over."

            He says that within a few years only about a 1,000 tonnes of mud will be spewing out each day - that's like a thousand pick-up trucks per day. "Small enough that it won't be a hazard, [but] maybe interesting enough still to be a tourist destination."

True or false?

1. People had to evacuate when the volcano erupted.

2. The volcano is no longer hazardous.

3. Earlier predictions overestimated how long the volcano would erupt.

4. The volcano is only spewing 1000 tons of mud at the moment.

5. Professor Manga believes the eruption should diminish by 2017.

6. There has never been a larger volcanic eruption of any kind.

7. The volcano has been studied from space.

8. It was anticipated that the volcano would erupt for longer.

Match the words below to their definitions

continuously / eruption / hazard / spew / tourist / volcano

describes an action that keeps on happening without a break

mountain that contains a lot of melted rock

person who visit somewhere when they are on vacation

something that is dangerous

when molten rock, ash and gases come out of a volcano

when something comes out of something else quickly and in large amounts

What is the missing word?

1. It’s likely to stop by the end of this ____________________.

2. Only about a 1,000 ____________________ of mud will be spewing out each day

3. That’s like a thousand ____________________ trucks per day.

4. It ____________________ tens of thousands of people to move away.

KEY

True or false

1. True

2. False

3. False

4. False

5. True

6. False

7. True

8. True

Vocabulary

continuously     describes an action that keeps on happening without a break

eruption            when molten rock, ash and gases come out of a volcano

hazard              something that is dangerous

spew                when something comes out of something else quickly and in large amounts

tourist               person who visit somewhere when they are on vacation

volcano             mountain that contains a lot of melted rock

What is the missing word?

1. decade.

2. tonnes

3. pick-up

4. forced