The province of Balochistan in Pakistan suffered a magnitude 7.7 earthquake on September 24. Over five hundred people are dead and many more injured; the tremors were so powerful that they could be felt as far away as Delhi.
However, one of the strangest effects of the quake was the appearance of a new island off the coast of the city of Gwadar. Such phenomena are not unusual in the wake of earthquakes, and usually disappear in a short time. The island, now called Zalzala Koh, appears to be emitting methane gas from fissures in the ground.
Scientists are not yet sure whether the island is the result of a mud volcano or the result of liquefaction. A mud volcano is the result of underground gassy mud finding a release and spewing like a volcano; a crack from an earthquake can provide exactly such a release valve. However, the island could also be formed from saturated sediments; an earthquake can make seafloor move like liquid, causing the water in the mud to escape suddenly, forming an island.
Either way, the soft mud of the island is expected to last less than a year before it erodes away. In the meantime, scientists, journalists, and even tourists are travelling to Zalzala Koh to see and study it before it is gone.
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