dr stone what caused the petrification

In Dr. Stone , the petrification was caused by a mysterious device called the Medusa , not natural stone magic or a virus. The story later reveals that these devices were tied to the group behind the petrification, often referred to as Why-man or the Medusa system itself, depending on where you are in the manga/anime timeline.

What happened

A green light spread across the world and turned humans into stone.
That event is the central mystery that Senku spends the series trying to solve.

Simple version

• The cause: Medusa petrification devices.
• The effect: everyone exposed was turned into stone.

• The mystery behind it: Why-man and the origin/purpose of the devices.

One-line answer

So, the short answer is: humanity was petrified by Medusa devices emitting the green light, not by a natural disaster. TL;DR: Dr. Stone’s petrification comes from the Medusa devices and the larger Why-man mystery.