Alarming activity! A giant volcano that has been dormant for 710,000 years has awakened in the neighboring area.

The research was conducted by a team led by Dr. Pablo González of the Institute of Natural Products and Agrobiology (IPNA), part of Spain's National Research Council (CSIC). González said the data they obtained suggest that Taftan should no longer be classified as an extinct volcano, but rather as a dormant one.

"The taftan was long considered extinct, but our data show this isn't true," González said, emphasizing that an eruption isn't expected anytime soon, but that the increasing gas pressure will need to find its way to the surface. "This pressure will eventually be released, either silently or through a violent explosion," he said.

Taftan Volcano, a 3,940-meter-high volcano near the Iran-Pakistan border, is located in the mountainous region where the Arabian Plate subducts beneath the Eurasian Plate. The volcano has active vents called fumaroles, which emit sulfur-smelling gases, but no eruptions have been recorded in human history.

The research team detected this change in Taftan via the European Space Agency's Sentinel-1 satellite. While initial surveys in 2020 revealed no activity, gas leak posts on social media in 2023 attracted attention. The smell of these gases was reportedly felt from approximately 50 kilometers away.

When doctoral student Mohammadhossein Mohammadnia, who participated in the study, examined the new satellite images, he determined that the area near the volcano's summit was slightly rising. Calculations revealed that the source of this activity was located between 490 and 630 meters below the surface.

The scientists stated that this swelling could not be explained by nearby earthquakes or rainfall. They also determined that the volcano's main magma chamber, located 3.5 kilometers deep, was not responsible for the event. The team is considering two possibilities:

Either gas pressure within the hydrothermal system increased, or small amounts of magma migrated upward, increasing the gas pressure in the rock fissures. In either case, a slow but measurable swelling of the surface was observed.

Speaking to Livescience, Dr. González emphasized that the research was “not intended to create panic, but rather as a warning to the authorities.”

“This study reminds local authorities in Iran that they need to allocate resources for regular monitoring of the volcano.”