Eight military troops missing after Yemen volcano erupts

Middle East News

Oct 1, 2007, 3:34 GMT

Sana'a, Yemen - Eight military troops were missing after a volcano on a three-kilometre-long island in the Red Sea started to spew lava and ash on Sunday evening, state news agency reported. Navy ships were sent late on Sunday to evacuate the troops stationed on Jabal al-Tair (Bird's Mountain), an unpopulated island located about 100 kilometres from the port city of Houdieda in western Yemen, it said. Minister of Oil and Minerals Khaled Bahah told the news agency that the 'increasing' volcanic activity in the island was first registered on Friday after a mild quake measuring 3.7 on the Richter scale struck off the coast of the mountainous island. The agency said eight army troopers were missing in a landslide that was triggered by the earthquake. The minister did not rule out an eruption from the island's highest mountain at 1,200 metres. He said it remained 'unclear' whether an eruption would occur. Seismologists said the island sits on a fault line in the southern part of the Red Sea. © 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur

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AkramOct 1st, 2007 - 04:48:36

This is one of the signs of the dooms day

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A geophysicistOct 1st, 2007 - 05:07:12

No, it is actually one of the signs of plate tectonics at work. The Red Sea lies along the northern extension of the East Africa Rift, which is slowly opening up and forming a shallow sea. This sort of activity will happen from time-to-time. Bird Island is off the coast of Yemen precisely because of the mantle magmas that are welling upward as the tectonic plate beneatht the sea experiences tensile and shear stresses related to the larger-scale plate movements. No, it is not the end of the world - just the routine reshaping of the Earth's crust that shows that this is a dynamic planet.

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tonny from belgiumOct 1st, 2007 - 08:45:02

Indeed ,I doubt there us anything related to plate tectonics in the bible .Hence fill your head with science ,not with bronze age books.

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DarwinOct 1st, 2007 - 15:19:31

Depends on your point of view.. if you were standing on this island... it was doomsday.

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:-DOct 1st, 2007 - 21:45:40

It was the volcano god wanting a sacrifice.

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