Water burst forth some 15 meters from this backyard of a Michoacán farmer's house before subsiding, as geysers tend to do temporarily. Whether the phenomenon was a true geyser will be determined by scientific observation.
A suspected geyser that burst from the pig pens and backyard of a small Mexican farm this week has prompted evacuations, a school closure and a multi-agency scientific response, according to state and federal officials.
The hydrothermal eruption began overnight Monday in the rural community of El Salitre, about 135 kilometers west of Morelia, the capital of the west-central state of Michoacán.
Water, mud and gases began spewing from "the middle of pig pens on a small family farm," according to authorities.
As of late Wednesday morning, the geyser-like phenomenon was still active, though in a reduced, bubbling-mud state with constant gas emissions rather than a jet, according to Mi Morelia.
Earlier, authorities had reported an initial spout of about 15 meters, which subsided to eight meters.
An unknown number of pigs "died as the result of the eruption,"
according to N+, the news division of TelevisaUnivision.
Comment: The Dark Age was exacerbated not only by volcanic explosions: 536 AD, the year the sky went dark