Read more about the Sidoarjo mud flow here.

Ulet Ifansasti / Getty Images
Residents look through the remains of properties destroyed by the Sidoarjo mud flow on May 28, in the subdistrict of Porong in Sidoarjo, East Java, Indonesia. Australian experts have this month cut the predicted life expectancy of the Lusi mud volcano, which has been continually spewing mud since May 29, 2006, with new predictions lowered to 28 years, compared to earlier suggestions as high as 87 years. The eruption is suspected to be triggered by the drilling activities of Indonesian oil and gas company Lapindo Brantas, though they refute the claims, instead blaming a small quake 2 days earlier. The disaster has so far killed 14 people and displaced 40,000 others, with parent company Bakrie having paid out over $700 million in land acquisitions which it denies are compensation payments. They expect to pay out a further $120 million by the end of 2012.

