A mud volcano erupted in Colombia on Wednesday night

??? A big eruption occurred at a mud volcano in Colombia on the night of the 25th February 2026.Thread…Video from @fluxfolio_

— Mark Tingay (@marktingay.bsky.social) 2026-02-26T10:53:25.352Z

See the mud volcano erupt in Colombia in the Bluesky post above.

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Mud volcano erupts in Colombia

A mud volcano erupted near the town of San Juan de Urabá in Colombia on the evening of February 25, 2026. The bright fireball blazed into the night sky, startling nearby observers. Mark Tingay – the Mud Volcano Guy on social media – is a geomechanics and pore pressure specialist. He explained what happened in Colombia:

The mud volcano is located ~2km south of the town of San Juan de Urabá (8.7288, -76.5141). Pre-eruption satellite images show that it’s a fairly small and usually low activity mud volcano.

— Mark Tingay (@marktingay.bsky.social) 2026-02-26T10:53:25.353Z

I had this marked on my personal map of Colombian mud volcanoes already (red circle), but have no information on it – not even a name!For now I will call it the San Juan de Urabá mud volcano, but people on Google Maps have today labelled it as the San Juancito mud volcano.

— Mark Tingay (@marktingay.bsky.social) 2026-02-26T10:53:25.354Z

No one was hurt, but reports indicate some livestock was killed and large cracks formed in the adjacent San Juan de Urabá and San Juancito road.

— Mark Tingay (@marktingay.bsky.social) 2026-02-26T10:53:25.355Z

For official information please see online updates in the thread from the Colombian Geological Service.That’s all for now. I’ll post more info as it comes in.

— Mark Tingay (@marktingay.bsky.social) 2026-02-26T10:53:25.356Z

So, what is a mud volcano, and could one happen near you?

Are mud volcanoes true volcanoes?

Mud volcanoes aren’t true volcanoes in the same sense as igneous volcanoes. Most volcanoes we’re familiar with have a source of molten rock below, called magma.

Instead, hot water and natural gas drive mud volcanoes. They tend to occur where layers of water-saturated clay rocks in Earth’s interior are under pressure from layers above. Pressure from nearby gas can drive this mud from deep within the Earth up toward the surface. The force of the gas can cause rocks and mud to shoot outward in an eruption, along with methane and carbon dioxide.

Most mud volcanoes are small, just a few inches to several feet (a meter or so) high. Yellowstone National Park has mudpots, which are like miniature mud volcanoes.

But some larger mud volcanoes can rise over 300 feet (100 meters) above the surface. Mud volcanoes found in water may never produce enough material to rise above the water level, while others create islands around the volcanic activity.

And sometimes, a large mud volcano erupts so explosively that it spews gas plumes that spontaneously combust, sending up columns of fire into the sky.

Find a map of mud volcanoes around the world here.

A mud volcano in the Caspian Sea in 2021

A mud volcano caused an explosion near an oil field in the Caspian Sea off Azerbaijan on July 4, 2021. It happened on Dashli Island. The last eruption there was in 1945.

The July 4 mud volcano happened near oil industry installations in the sea. The closest video of the Dashli mud volcano was captured from an oil platform. And this was no coincidence. Mud volcanoes and the oil industry go hand-in-hand. These unique geologic features are found near oil deposits and serve as an indicator for where these valuable natural resources lie.

Mud volcanoes exist around the world, from Indonesia to Italy and beyond. Even Mars has mud volcanoes. But some of the greatest concentrations of mud volcanoes on Earth exist near Azerbaijan. This country and its coastline along the Caspian Sea are home to nearly 400 mud volcanoes. That’s more than half the total found throughout Earth’s continents.

Places where natural gas seeps from the Earth are often associated with mud volcanoes. Not far from Dashli Island, onshore near the city of Baku, Azerbaijan, there’s a gas seep known as Yanar Dagh, or Burning Mountain. It’s a place where fire is burning continuously out of a seam in the Earth. A shepherd accidentally lit the flame in the 1950s, and it’s been burning ever since. Mud volcanoes, found in the area, are another way for the pent-up natural gases to be released from underground.

Mud volcanoes in a quiet state

Bottom line: A mud volcano erupted in Colombia on the evening of February 25, 2026. No one was injured but some livestock were killed.