The island was 'swallowed up' by the ocean off Pakistan

An island formed by Pakistan's mud volcano was covered by sea water and disappeared almost without trace when viewed from above.

Earthquake Mountain Island disappears over time.(Photo: Fox).

NASA photos reveal an island called Earthquake Mountain or Zalzala Koh that has been swallowed up by the ocean less than 7 years after it was formed by a powerful earthquake in Pakistan. The six-year composite image of the island born by mud volcanoes was taken through various stages before Earthquake Mountain sank under the sea.

At first, Earthquake Mountain was 20m high, 90m wide and 40m long, making experts think the island would not last long and this prediction was eventually proved."Currently, Earthquake Mountain may lie out of sight, but that doesn't mean it has completely disappeared. In 2019, the island's footprint remains in the Landsat satellite image. In June 2019, Landsat observes sediment streaks around the island's legs submerged under water, " NASA said.

According to NASA, mud volcanoes along Pakistan's coastal zone result from the shift of Earth's tectonic plates in the region, notably the Arab tectonic plate submerged in Eurasian tectonic plates a few centimeters per year. That makes soft sediment move up to Eurasian plate, forming mud volcano in the process of molten rock becomes magma and hot gas gas sprayed out.

Earthquake Mountain is not the only mud-volcanic island to form and disappear in the region. Another island similar to Malan also grows and erodes four times in the past century, between 1945, 1999, 2010 and 2013.