An Ancient Supervolcano in South America Is Coming Back to Life

Bright Side

Deep beneath the surface of South America, a sleeping giant is starting to stir… and scientists are watching very closely. 🌋 This isn’t your average volcano—it’s a supervolcano, and if it erupts, it could change life on Earth as we know it. For thousands of years, it’s been quiet… but new signs suggest that silence might soon be broken. Tremors, gas emissions, and heat are building up under the surface, hinting at something massive brewing below. Is this nature’s ticking time bomb, or just a false alarm? Join us as we explore the science, the mystery, and the high-stakes drama of one of Earth’s most powerful forces waking up.  Credit: Vesuvius Circa April 5: By Don Wiss, , CC BY-SA 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vesuvius_(erupting)_Circa_April_5,_1926.webm Multi-day view of Cumbre Vieja's continued eruption: By GOES imagery: CSU/CIRA & NOAA, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Multi-day_view_of_Cumbre_Vieja%27s_continued_eruption_(CIRA_2021-11-03).webm La Palma Pre-eruption quakes: By Corintyns, CC BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:La_Palma_Pre-eruption_quakes.webm Eruption of Mount St. Helens: By National Archives and Records Administration, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eruption_of_Mount_St._Helens,_1980.ogv Mount St. Helens' Runaway Glacier: By Liz Westby , U.S. Geological Survey–Cascades Volcano Observatory, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mount_St._Helens%27_Runaway_Glacier_-_A_time-lapse_video_of_Crater_Glacier_Quicktime.ogv Msh (ASTER): By NASA/METI/AIST/Japan Space Systems, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Msh_(ASTER).mpeg A Busy Day for Popocatépetl: By GOES imagery: CSU/CIRA & NOAA, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_Busy_Day_for_Popocat%C3%A9petl_(CIRA_2024-03-06_-_nolabels).webm L'Uturuncu Volcan en Bolivie Altitude: By Ceky - wikipedia france, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/, https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uturuncu#/media/Bestand:Uturuncu.jpg Yellowstone magma chamber: By Unknown author, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Yellowstone_magma_chamber.jpg Mount Spurr: By USGS, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mount_Spurr.jpg Eruption column from Crater Peak: By R. McGimsey (U.S. Geological Survey), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Spurr#/media/File:Eruption_column_from_Crater_Peak_vent.jpg Alaska - Mt. Resurrection through Mt. Spurr: By Unknown author or not provided, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Alaska_-_Mt._Resurrection_through_Mt._Spurr_-_NARA_-_23941001.jpg Wutky-Fumarole: By Michael Wutky, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Wutky-Fumarole.jpg Pompeii by Robert S Duncanson: By Self-photographed, Caroline Léna Becker, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pompeii_by_Robert_S_Duncanson.JPG Animation is created by Bright Side.  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Music from TheSoul Sound: https://thesoul-sound.com/   Check our Bright Side podcast on Spotify and leave a positive review! https://open.spotify.com/show/0hUkPxD34jRLrMrJux4VxV  Subscribe to Bright Side: https://goo.gl/rQTJZz  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Our Social Media:  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brightplanet/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brightside.official  TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brightside.official?lang=en   Stock materials (photos, footages and other):  https://www.depositphotos.com  https://www.shutterstock.com  https://www.eastnews.ru  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  For more videos and articles visit: http://www.brightside.me  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  This video is made for entertainment purposes. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, safety and reliability. Any action you take upon the information in this video is strictly at your own risk, and we will not be liable for any damages or losses. It is the viewer's responsibility to use judgement, care and precaution if you plan to replicate.

Transcript

00:00There's an old volcano in Bolivia called Uttarunku.

00:03It has interrupted in about 250,000 years, so you may think that's the end of its story.

00:11But recently, it has started to act a little strangely.

00:15At the moment, it resembles a zombie that's waking up from a long nap.

00:20Uh-oh, is that kind of apocalypse nearing?

00:24Uttarunku is a huge mountain in the Andes that's almost 20,000 feet tall.

00:30It's called a stratovolcano, which means it's big, steep, and cone-shaped.

00:35These kinds of volcanoes are made from layers of lava, ash, and rocks.

00:41They can have terrifying, powerful, explosive eruptions because their lava is thick and traps gas inside.

00:49Think of it like a shaken-up soda that's ready to burst.

00:53Famous ones like Mount Vesuvius are just like Uttarunku.

00:56And do you remember about the tragic fate of Pompeii, completely destroyed during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius?

01:04Does something similar await Bolivia?

01:07Even though Uttarunku has been quiet for a long, long time,

01:12scientists have noticed that it's been letting out gas, rumbling with small earthquakes,

01:17and even making the ground around it bulge, kind of like it's stretching.

01:23So, people started wondering if it was getting ready to erupt again.

01:27Scientists decided to take a closer look at this situation

01:30and found out that liquid and gas moving around under the volcano is causing all this activity.

01:37It doesn't mean the volcano is definitely going to erupt,

01:42but it helps explain why it still seems alive.

01:46Let's dive into details.

01:49Since the 1990s, scientists have been using satellites and GPS

01:53to keep an eye on the ground around the Uttarunku volcano.

01:57At one point, they noticed something weird.

02:01The ground was rising in the middle and sinking around the edges,

02:05kind of like a sombrero hat.

02:07The middle part has been slowly going up for at least 50 years,

02:11by about 0.4 inches a year.

02:14It doesn't sound like a lot, but hold on.

02:17This strange shape, along with lots of tiny earthquakes and gas like carbon dioxide

02:23coming out of the volcano,

02:25made scientists think that there might be a giant blob of magma growing under the mountain.

02:30If that were true, it could mean only one scary thing.

02:34The volcano could be getting ready to erupt.

02:38Uttarunku sits on top of a huge underground pool of magma called the Altiplano Puna magma body.

02:46This pool is really big and really deep, stretching under parts of Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina.

02:54Scientists thought that magma from the APMB might be rising and collecting near the surface,

02:59which could lead to an eruption.

03:03But now, after studying more than 1,700 earthquakes and checking the rocks around the volcano,

03:10scientists have a new idea.

03:13Apparently, it's not magma rising up.

03:16Instead, hot fluids and gases are traveling up from the APMB through a narrow path shaped like a chimney.

03:24These gases, like steam and CO2, can get trapped under the top of the volcano,

03:30while salty water, brine, spreads out sideways into tiny cracks in the rocks.

03:36This moving gas and water can make the ground rise and fall and cause small quakes,

03:43without any magma getting close to the surface.

03:45So, the good news is, Uttarunku probably isn't about to erupt.

03:51If it did happen, it would cause serious damage to nearby communities and even pose a threat to human lives.

03:59Lava flows could reach towns tens of miles away from the volcano,

04:03and volcanic ash could even spread across Bolivia, Argentina, and Chile.

04:09Luckily, even though the volcano is still alive and rumbling,

04:14it's not as dangerous as scientists once thought.

04:18This discovery might help scientists figure out if other volcanoes around the world are getting ready to erupt.

04:25Now, let's visit Alaska, where according to researchers, Mount Spur might erupt soon.

04:32It's letting out strange amounts of volcanic gases from the top and side vent,

04:37the very vent that last erupted in 1992.

04:41If it erupts again, it could cause problems for airplanes flying nearby and might send ash falling from the sky.

04:49The good news is that nobody lives close to it, so people are safe for now.

04:55But even though Mount Spur isn't super dangerous,

04:59there are other volcanoes around the world that could be really destructive.

05:03One of those is Campi Follegri, a giant volcano system near the city of Naples.

05:10Instead of one big mountain, it has 24 craters spread across the area.

05:16It last erupted in 1538, but its biggest eruption happened about 40,000 years ago.

05:23That explosion covered the whole Mediterranean region in ash

05:28and made temperatures drop by up to 16.2 degrees Fahrenheit in Eastern Europe,

05:34which led to a very cold volcanic winter.

05:38If Campi Follegri erupted again today, it could be very dangerous.

05:43It might cover Naples and nearby places in ash,

05:47causing earthquakes and landslides,

05:49and create air pollution and acid rain.

05:52Scientists are keeping an eye on it,

05:56especially after a 4.4 magnitude earthquake shook the area in March 2025.

06:02But the good news is,

06:04there's no sign that magma is rising to the surface right now,

06:08which means an eruption isn't expected soon.

06:11Still, since Italy has a lot of volcanic activity,

06:16experts continue to watch it carefully.

06:18Mount Vesuvius is also in Italy and is one of the most famous volcanoes in the world.

06:26It's known for its huge eruption in 79 CE

06:30that buried the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum.

06:34The last time the volcano erupted was in 1944.

06:37Today, Vesuvius is even more dangerous because over 3 million people live near it.

06:46Around 700,000 people are living illegally right on its slopes,

06:51which puts them even more at risk.

06:54If the volcano erupts again,

06:56it could send rocks and ash flying through the air at nearly 100 miles per hour

07:01and cause major destruction,

07:03possibly even wiping out Naples.

07:07And still, scientists believe a big eruption from Vesuvius

07:10probably won't happen for a few hundred more years.

07:14But since it's still an active volcano,

07:17researchers continue to monitor it.

07:20Cumbre Vieja is a volcano on the island of La Palma,

07:24which is part of the Canary Islands.

07:26It last erupted in 2021.

07:28During that eruption, lava poured out of the volcano

07:32and flowed all the way to the sea.

07:35It destroyed over 3,000 homes.

07:38But luckily, thousands of people were safely evacuated,

07:42so it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

07:45In the past, scientists were worried

07:47that a huge eruption could cause the entire western side of the volcano

07:51to break off and crash into the ocean.

07:55This could create a mega tsunami,

07:57sending massive waves hundreds of feet high across the Atlantic Ocean.

08:03But more recent studies have shown that this is very unlikely to happen.

08:09Mount St. Helens is a volcano in Washington State in the United States.

08:14It had a massive eruption in May 1980 that ended the lives of 57 people.

08:21That eruption also caused the biggest landslide ever recorded.

08:26Hot, pressurized magma exploded from the volcano,

08:30shooting ash 15 miles into the sky.

08:33Ash covered a huge area,

08:35and around 230 square miles of land was destroyed.

08:39Mount St. Helens is still active and is expected to erupt again someday,

08:45possibly even in our lifetimes.

08:47But experts say it's not likely to have another huge sideways blast like the one in 1980,

08:54thanks to a deep crater that is now formed at the top.

08:57It will change the way the volcano might erupt.

09:04Popocatepetil is a big, active volcano in Mexico.

09:08It's been slowly erupting on and off since the early 2000s.

09:12It's really close to a lot of people,

09:15just 40 miles from the Mexico City metropolitan area,

09:19which has about 22 million people,

09:21and 30 miles from Puebla,

09:24which is home to about 6 million inhabitants.

09:28If Popocatepetil had a huge eruption,

09:31it could cover Mexico City in thick ash as much as 8 inches deep.

09:36That ash could block drains,

09:38mess up the water,

09:39and even stop the electricity from working.

09:42Even worse,

09:43fast-moving lava and super-hot flows,

09:46called pyroclastic flows,

09:47could rush down the mountain and destroy towns nearby.

09:52The volcano was quiet for 50 years,

09:55but now it rumbles and shakes pretty often.

09:59There have been over a dozen small eruptions,

10:02including some as recent as February 2024.

10:06Some nearby places got covered in ash,

10:09but scientists say this isn't too surprising,

10:12and they're keeping a close eye on it.

10:15That's it for today.

10:16So hey, if you pacified your curiosity,

10:19then give the video a like and share it with your friends.

10:21Or if you want more,

10:22just click on these videos and stay on the bright side.

10:25Please click on these videos and I'll see you next time.

10:27So I'll see you next time.

10:27So now we'll see you next time.

10:28So now we'll see you next time.

Category

Transcript

Recommended