Thankfully, it’s not giant worms.
A strange seismic event that shook the Earth about five months ago may have finally been solved, according to scientists.
In November 2018, scientists picked up signals for heavy tremors that occurred around Mayotte Island, one of the islands located between African countries Madagascar and Mozambique. Many sensors from all over the globe got as far as detecting the tremors, but scientists had no clue why it happened.
Not until now, that is. Scientists have finally discovered what they think is the most probable cause of the tremors: a large, offshore volcanic eruption, possibly the largest ever recorded of its kind.
A volcanic eruption of this scale would mean that the magma may have shifted under the seafloor, causing the lands above to experience a direct effect. Magma may have even flowed into sediments deep underneath the island, which explains why there wasn’t any visible physical disturbance above the water, according to a team from the French Geological Survey.
The findings are currently published at EarthArXiv.
