The Mud Volcano That Buried A Village
On the southern edge of Trinidad’s Central Range lies a small village called Piparo. Unknown to many, the village was the site of a freak natural disaster back in February 1997. With precious little warning to those that lived there, a hugely destructive mud volcano eruption destroyed everything in its path.
Thankfully, the majority of the villagers did escape unscathed. As they fled, the magmatic mud flooded their homes. Cars were buried under a square mile of mud that quickly hardened into a concrete-like clay. Overall, 31 families were permanently displaced from their homes.
Piparo’s mud volcano eruption is actually one of many such occurrences that have taken place in Trinidad in recent years. However, the majority take place in the sea.
Mud volcanoes formed temporary islands off Trinidad in 1964 and 2001. A total of 15 other mud volcanoes exist in the area. Tourists can actually book site seeing tours of these strange geological formations.
The location of the 1997 eruption is also popular with site seers. Remnants of destroyed houses, roads to nowhere, and the general mayhem that took place there, are still very visible to this day.
