In Azerbaijan on Sunday, there was a huge explosion at sea that could be seen from land - the sky was covered by a black cloud and fire was burning over the water.
The explosion was caused by the eruption of a mud volcano located in an area full of oil and gas fields in the Caspian Sea, the government said.
No power plant was damaged and no one was injured, it added.
Footage on social media showed a ball of flame and smoke billowing over the sea.
WATCH: Large explosion reported near oil platform in the Caspian Sea; officials say it may have been caused by a mud volcano pic.twitter.com/eqwNw110bF
- BNO News (@BNONews) July 4, 2021
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The eruption occurred about 10 kilometers from the Umid gas field, which is about 75 kilometers from the Azerbaijani capital Baku, said the spokesman of the state oil company Sokar Ibrahim Ahmadok.
The fire continued to spread on Monday, but did not threaten the nearby oil and gas platforms or human lives, the Ministry of Energy of Azerbaijan announced.
The explosion was caused by a mud volcano, of which there are many in this country.
Out of 1.000 mud volcanoes in the world, there are 400 in Azerbaijan, and they spew mud, but also flammable gases.
It is believed that the explosion occurs when underground deposits of gas and oil are ignited.
Azerbaijan is known for its natural resources of oil and gas, that's why this country is also called Land of fire.
Even the explorer Marco Polo wrote about it in the 13th century.
So, first, Azerbaijan is the home of mud volcanoes, and has hundreds of them. My Google Earth mud volcano map of Azerbaijan gives you an idea of just how ludicrously many mud volcanoes there are both onshore and offshore. pic.twitter.com/m5m3yAPWSV
- Mark Tingay (@CriticalStress_) July 5, 2021
"Mud volcanoes in Azerbaijan are among the largest and most active in the world. On average, several eruptions occur each year and many cause large fires," Mark Tingay, a geophysicist at the University of Adelaide, wrote on Twitter.
The surface of the ocean in the Gulf of Mexico also caught fire due to the explosion on Friday, but the fire was extinguished after five hours. This happened due to a gas leak from an underwater gas pipeline.
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