Discoveryon: Huge underwater volcano discovered off the coast of Sumatra Island

Indonesian and French scientists who were conducting an ocean survey on the nature of tsunamis have discovered a huge underwater volcano off the coast of Sumatra Island.

"We discovered the huge and tall volcano through our seismic detection system off the western coast of Bengkulu Province," Indonesian geologist Yusuf Surachman Djajadihardja said.

The volcano rises about 4,600 meters from the seabed, with a rim more than 1,300 meters below the surface of the sea. The base spans approximately 50 kilometers, he said.

"Such a huge underwater volcano can be dangerous if it erupts, but the volcano is apparently very old and not active any more. Also, it is not located on the volcanic line," Djajadihardja said.

"However, we will report this discovery to the Volcanology Survey Institute for further study," he added.

Djajadihardja is director of the Center of Technology for Natural Resources Inventory at the state-run Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology.

via Discoveryon: Huge underwater volcano discovered off the coast of Sumatra Island.