Places in News Current Affairs MCQs

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Recently, environmentalists raised concerns over unchecked tourism and construction in the Mahendragiri Hills of Odisha, despite its Biodiversity Heritage Site status since 2022. It is located in Gajapati district at 1,501 meters elevation. It is part of the Eastern Ghats. The hills host 1,348 plant species and 388 animal species, including many endemic and threatened ones. Culturally, they are linked to the Ramayana and Mahabharata, and believed to be the site of Lord Parashurama’s penance.

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Recently, more than 1,200 earthquakes around Greece’s Santorini Island showed that Santorini and Kolumbo volcano share an underground magma reservoir. The Santorini and Kolumbo volcanoes are located in Greece, in the southern Aegean Sea, forming part of the Hellenic Volcanic Arc. Seismic and GPS data (2024–25) proved both volcanoes are interconnected through a common magma system. This is the first scientific evidence of their magmatic link, complicating eruption forecasting and highlighting the need for real-time monitoring. Both lie in the Hellenic Volcanic Arc, one of Europe’s most active volcanic zones, critical for global disaster management studies.

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A collaborative research team led by University of Tasmania scientists completed a 54-day voyage on CSIRO research vessel (RV) Investigator to study the 2022 Hunga Volcano eruption in Tonga. It is a submarine stratovolcano in the Tongan archipelago, southern Pacific Ocean. The volcano has erupted regularly over past decades. On January 15, 2022, it had an explosive eruption, one of the largest of the 21st century. The eruption sent volcanic plume into the stratosphere, triggered shock waves, and caused tsunami waves across ocean basins. The voyage collected data to understand volcanic impacts, seafloor changes, and tsunami risks, aiding Pacific disaster preparedness.

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A 6.7 magnitude earthquake recently struck Leyte Island in the Philippines. Leyte Island is part of the Visayas group of islands in the Philippines. It is the eighth-largest island and sixth most populated in the country. The island has forests, mountains, and the Leyte Valley, a major farming area. Historically, known as Tandaya, Leyte saw rapid population growth post-1900.

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India’s only mud volcano at Baratang, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, has recently erupted. It is located in the North and Middle Andaman district, about 150 km from Port Blair. Previous eruption occurred in 2005 due to oceanic seismic shifts. Mud volcanoes in Baratang are the only known volcanoes in the Indian subcontinent. The eruption is significant for geological study and tourism in the region.

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Researchers studied the ratio of small to large earthquakes beneath Mount Etna and found it strongly linked to volcanic activity over the past 20 years. Mount Etna is an active stratovolcano located on the island of Sicily in the Mediterranean Sea. Sicily is a part of Italy. It lies at the convergent boundary of the African Plate and the Eurasian Plate. It is the tallest active volcano in Europe and the highest mountain in Italy south of the Alps. The volcano’s eruptive history dates back 500,000 years, with 2,700 years well documented. It was featured in ancient Greek legends. Mount Etna is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

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Recently, the Taal Volcano in the Philippines reportedly erupted three times. It is located in Batangas province, about 70 km south of Manila, Philippines. The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) classifies it as a complex volcano. Taal is an active volcano within a large caldera, having 38 eruptions in the past 450 years. The caldera formed through prehistoric eruptions between 140,000 and 5,380 BCE. It is a stratovolcano with a crater lake on a 5-km-wide volcanic island. It consists of multiple cones, hills, and craters instead of a single dome, making it geologically unique.

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Lake Suchitlán in El Salvador is facing a crisis due to the rapid spread of invasive water lettuce. Lake Suchitlán is located in El Salvador. Water lettuce is a perennial, free-floating aquatic weed found in tropical regions across Asia, Africa, and the Americas. It is also called water cabbage, Nile cabbage, or shellflower. The plant has lettuce-like leaves with long, feathery white to tan roots hanging below.

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A 5.8 magnitude earthquake recently struck Negros Island, Philippines. Negros Island is part of the Visayan Islands in central Philippines. It is the fourth largest and third most populous island in the country. The island is boot-shaped, measuring 217 km long and 35–79 km wide. It is separated from Panay Island by the Guimaras Strait and from Cebu Island by the Tanon Strait. The Visayan Sea borders it to the north and the Sulu Sea to the south. A central mountain range runs through the island, containing Mount Canlaon (2,465 m) — an active volcano and the highest peak on Negros.

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A recent study mapped Bolivia’s Uturuncu Volcano and found its unusual ground movement is caused by hot fluids and gases, not rising magma indicating an eruption. Uturuncu is a dormant stratovolcano in the Andes Mountains of southwestern Bolivia. It is 6,008 metres above sea level and is the tallest peak in southern Bolivia. It last erupted 2,50,000 years ago but remains seismically active with hundreds of small quakes each year. It sits above the Altiplano-Puna Magma Body, a 200-kilometre-wide active magma reservoir. Its “zombie” behaviour is due to underground liquid and gas movement with low eruption risk.