IS world getting more volcanic? Huge magma build-up under town with NO volcano

Source:express.co.uk

A PREVIOUSLY undiscovered volcano that could blow affecting hundreds of people has been slowly filling with huge amounts of magma, it has been revealed.

Molten rock has been quiet building up underneath the town of Matata, New Zealand, enough to push up the surface by 40cm

Scientists have confirmed discovering the magma buildup near the town with a population of 650 people, which they fear signals the beginnings of a new volcano.

Geophysicist Ian Hamling said enough magma to fill 80,000 Olympic-size swimming pools has pushed up beneath the land near the coastal town, which is 120 miles south-east of Auckland, since the 1950s.

Its discovery helps explains a spate of earthquakes in the area between 2004 and 2011.