An island appeared from the ocean after the deadly Pakistan earthquake that killed over 500 people.
A number of aerial photographs reveal the shocking result of the natural disaster, LiveScience reported. The hill measures 576.4 feet long and 524.9 feet wide, it is believed to be between 60 and 70 feet tall.
The mound has been dubbed Zalzala Koh, it was formed from volcanic mud that "spewed' from the sea-bed when water or gas was violently released.
Researchers believe the hill could actually be a mud volcano. The structures form when scalding hot water mixes with gases and sediments in the ocean deep. If the mixture can escape through a crack on the ocean floor a mud volcano can form.
A local journalist, Bahram Baloch, witnessed the spectacle when the island emerged from the waves only half an hour after the earthquake, the BBC reported.
"It said a hill has appeared outside my house. I stepped out, and was flabbergasted. I could see this grey, dome-shaped body in the distance, like a giant whale swimming near the surface. Hundreds of people had gathered to watch it in disbelief," he told the BBC.
Baloch went to see the island with some friends the next day.
"It's an oval shaped island which is about 250ft to 300ft in length, and about 60 to 70ft above the water," he said. He described the surface of the island as "rough," some areas were composed of grainy sand or mud, but one part of Zalzala Koh was made from solid rock.
"There were dead fish on the surface. And on one side we could hear the hissing sound of the escaping gas," Baloch told the BBC.
Geologists from the Pakistan Navy claimed the island was emitting flammable gas, LiveScience reported. Sediments in the seafloor commonly contain bacteria that release methane, so this does not identify the hill.
"We put the fire out in the end, but it was quite a hassle. Not even the water could kill it, unless one poured buckets over it," Baloch told the BBC.
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