Is there a “hidden supervolcano” under the Philippine seas that Filipinos need to be aware of?

Filipino Reddit users flagged a Facebook post about the Apolaki Caldera, which was depicted with a large crater almost as big as the Philippine archipelago.

The image had a logo of Google Gemini, a generative artificial intelligence (AI) tool of the tech giant, on the lower right side.

The depiction of the caldera infuriated some Redditors, who flagged the image’s exaggeration.

“Fearmongering, scientifically inaccurate AI-generated disinformation slop is making me lose faith in humanity as a licensed geologist!” a Reddit user said in the “r/Philippines” community on Friday, October 10.

Fearmongering, scientifically innacurate AI generated disinformation slop is making me lose faith in humanity as a licensed geologist!
byu/genius23sarcasm inPhilippines

“Geologist here, it’s dead. No s*it, no fuzz. It’s been dead for a million years,” another Redditor commented.

“And it’s not that big as the image,” said a different Redditor.

It was also called out by other Facebook users.

“Ang O.A. ng photo niyo. Hindi ho ganyan at ang pwesto, wala sa gitna. Nasa may Luzon at hindi Visayas,” a Pinoy commented.

“O.A ‘yung nasa picture… ‘Di naman ganyan kalaki ang 150 k.m. diameter,” another user said.

“O.A. naman sa laki ‘yan, oo, meron volcano diyan, pero hindi ganyan kalaki,” wrote a different user.

The facts 

There is really a volcanic caldera located at the bottom of the Philippine Sea, with a diameter of 150 kilometers or 93 miles. It is located on the crest of the Benham Rise.

A caldera is a “large depression formed when a volcano erupts and collapses,” according to National Geographic.

Reports said it poses no threat since it is inactive.

In an article, geologist David Bressan said that the volcanic caldera is “twice the size of the famous Yellowstone caldera in Wyoming.”

His article was accompanied by an illustration of the estimated size of the volcanic caldera remains, which is far from the exaggerated AI-generated image shared by the Facebook post.