A volcano has been birthed on the seafloor courtesy of the largest underwater eruption that has ever been recorded. It is estimated to be 2,690 feet tall, which is twice as tall as the Empire State Building. 

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The volcano near the eastern coast of the island of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean was nowhere to be seen until the whole island was shaken by an earthquake in 2018.

The underwater convulsions were responsible for generating over 11,000 detectable earthquakes and can be described as a “major magmatic event”, as was done by the authors of a Nature paper. The rare event was registered and noticed all over the world.

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The enigma is located on the tip of a 31-mile-long ridge and runs between the East African and Madagascar rifts. This new development might enable the researchers to understand the processes which drive tectonic activity on Earth in a better manner. 

The earthquakes which began on May 10, 2018 were met by another earthquake with a magnitude of 5.8 just five days later. The scientists soon discovered that this underwater volcanic eruption was on a scale that hadn’t been recorded previously. 

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University of Paris’ geophysicist Nathalie Fuillet led a team of scientists and used several technological devices on the ocean floor in order to determine the origin of the seismic activity. 

The region was surveyed with the help of an echosounder and revealed a 2,690 foot tall volcanic structure.

The scientists who surveyed the event believe that the tectonic processes might have caused some damage to the solid outer part of the Earth including the crust and mantle. 

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This led to magma reservoirs beneath the air to rise to the upper layers through dikes, triggering the mantle’s faults to be reactivated. 

All of this caused the earthquakes which led to magma flowing on the seafloor and erupting to produce lava and a new volcano.

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The authors of the paper reveal that the earthquakes are still ongoing and continually contributing to the deformation of the seafloor’s region.