Mud Volcanoes in Azerbaijan Linked to Earthquake Activity, Scientists Say

Jerusalem, 4 June, 2025 (TPS-IL) -- Baku (AZERTAC) – The territory of Azerbaijan has been confirmed as the region with the largest number of mud volcanoes. Out of more than 2,000 mud volcanoes recorded on Earth, more than 350 are located in Azerbaijan country. The mud volcanoes that currently exist are the result of numerous eruptions that began one million years ago.

The areas where mud volcanoes are most widespread in our republic are the Absheron Peninsula, the Shamakhi-Gobustan region, the Lower Kuryan depression, the Baku archipelago and the border area with Georgia. Every year, from 2-5 eruption paroxysms occur in Azerbaijan, sometimes more. This phenomenon is more common in the Shamakhi-Gobustan region.

Unlike traditional volcanoes that spew lava, mud volcanoes are geological formations that erupt mud, water and gases such as methane and carbon dioxide.

AZERTAC reports that Sabina Kazimova, head of the department of the Republican Seismological Service Center (RSSC) under the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences (ANAS), said this while delivering a report on “Monitoring of mud volcanoes based on a newly installed seismic network” at the conference “Natural disasters, ecological problems and the green world” dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the establishment of ANAS.

The head of the department said that since 2022, the Republican Seismological Service Center has installed a network of 22 volcanic stations in the Absheron Peninsula, where volcanoes are most common, and in the Shamakhi-Gobustan region. The SeisComP program has made it possible to monitor mud volcanoes, earthquakes, and other seismic events in real-time.

“The connection between mud volcano activity and seismicity has long been established. Volcanic activity has a genetic connection with seismicity. From a genetic point of view, both natural phenomena are a manifestation of tectonic stresses accumulated in the earth’s crust,” Kazimova said.

“Analyses conducted over many years show that earthquakes with a magnitude of 4-5 cause the activation of volcanoes. If the volcano’s source, where energy has accumulated, is located in the same fault zone as the hypocenter of the earthquake, or if the distance between the earthquake and the volcano is within a radius of 80-100 kilometers, then it is possible to make an accurate assessment of this. The occurrence of an earthquake triggers a volcanic eruption,” she added. “This is especially pronounced in zones where tectonic stresses increase – in Shamakhi, Gobustan and Ismayilli.”