Undersea volcanoes in region might put Singapore at risk: Study

New research into 466 lesser-known undersea volcanoes in the region shows that Singapore is not immune to rare, explosive events. If a large, slumbering underwater volcano in the South China Sea were to erupt, it could set off tsunami waves that could reach Singapore’s coastlines.

Dr Andrea Verolino, a research fellow at NTU’s Earth Observatory of Singapore and his colleagues mapped out 466 submerged seamounts and volcanic islands in the waters of Southeast Asia, Taiwan, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands – with the help of published data sets and sea-floor topography information. The NTU investigations were published in Natural Hazards And Earth System Sciences in April.

Volcanic ash can blow towards Singapore, blanketing the surface with fine ash, similar to an eruption of a land-based volcano. Lava flows and volcanic rock avalanches can damage undersea cables in the region, causing internet outages and disrupting financial transactions.

“Singapore can be affected too because these cables are thousands of kilometres long, and Singapore has some of the main subsea cables and landing sites in Southeast Asia,” said Dr Verolino.