Pakistan earthquake creates ‘island’ off Gwadar coastline

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – A small land mass appeared off the coast of Gwadar following Tuesday’s massive 7.8-magnitude earthquake in southwestern Pakistan.

Gwadar Police Chief Pervez Umrani said people gathered on the beach to see the land mass.

READ MORE: Gallery: Deadly earthquake strikes Pakistan

The head of the Geological Survey of Pakistan confirmed that the mass was created by the quake and said scientists were trying to determine how it happened. Zahid Rafi said such masses are sometimes created by the movement of gases locked in the earth under the sea, pushing mud and earth up to the surface in something akin to a mud volcano.

“When such a strong earthquake builds pressure, there is the likelihood of such islands emerging,” he said. “That big shock beneath the earth causes a lot of disturbance.”

To get a better idea of what the island is made of and how permanent it is, scientists will have to get samples of the material to see if it’s mostly soft mud or rocks and harder material. He said these types of islands can remain for a long time or eventually subside back into the ocean, depending on their makeup.

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A Pakistani navy team reached the island by midday Wednesday, navy geologist Mohammed Danish told the country’s Geo Television. He said the mass was 18 metres high, 30 metres long and 76 metres wide.

“There are stones and mud,” he said, warning residents not to try to visit the island. “Gasses are still emitting.”

Such land masses have appeared before off Pakistan’s coast, said Muhammed Arshad, a hydrographer with the navy. After quakes in 1999 and 2010, new land masses rose up along a different part of the coast about 280 kilometres east of Gwadar, he said.

He said each of those disappeared back into the sea within a year during the monsoon season, a period of heavy rain and wind that sweeps Pakistan every summer. He said that in the area where the island was created on Tuesday, the sea is only about six to seven meters deep.