The Daily Mail in London recently ran an article claiming that a “super-volcano” in Germany is awakening and will spread havoc across Europe in this Doomsday year.
Sleeping beneath the Laacher See, a volcanic lake in the picturesque Rhineland-Palatinate, not far from Frankfurt, the “super-volcano” – sounds like a title from a SyFy Channel Saturday night movie – was compared to Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines that erupted in 1991, killing 400 people. That eruption is now considered the most powerful of the 20th century. In all, more than 2.1 million people and 364 communities were impacted by Philippine volcano.
The newspaper story proclaimed: “(The German volcano) woke regularly every 10 to 12 thousand years. The last eruption occurred 12,900 years ago, another could therefore arise at any time.”
The Daily Mail offered no expert testimony. When other media outlets followed up, experts scoffed and denied anything is happening under the Laacher See.
In point of fact, the experts contacted by the other outlets pointed out that the Mail cited no sources and presented misinterpreted facts. German volcano experts routinely monitor Laacher See and all anomalies are reported, no matter how trivial. Thus far, no evidence has emerged that the sleeping volcano is anywhere near another eruption. Additionally, a French volcanologist said there is no threat in the foreseeable future.
Of course, the Daily Mail is notorious for peddling crackpot theories and publishing outlandish pronouncements without a shred of evidence.
I think I’m safe going on record that, no, Germany’s “super-volcano” is not going to end the world any time soon and certainly not in 2012.
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