Pakistan’s ‘Zalzala Jazeera’ spewing methane gas<\/h1>\nComment<\/span><\/a> \u00a0 Share<\/span> \u00a0 \u00a0 Text size:\u00a0 A<\/span> \u00a0 A<\/span> \u00a0 A<\/span><\/div>\nSeptember 25, 2013 18:08 IST<\/div>\n\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/im.rediff.com\/news\/2013\/sep\/25island.jpg\")
Methane gas is emanating from a small island created in the Arabian Sea by the deadly earthquake that hit southwest Pakistan, prompting experts to warn people not to go near it.<\/p>\n
<\/div>\nThe site has fascinated local residents, who have thronged the coastline in Balochistan province to get a glimpse of the new piece of land that emerged from the sea.<\/p>\n
The 7.7-magnitude quake that struck Balochistan\u2019s remote Awaran district on Tuesday killed over 260 people and affected 300,000.<\/p>\n
The island sprang from the seabed off the coastline near the port of Gwadar, 400 km from the quake’s epicentre. The Pakistani media has dubbed it the Zalzala Jazeera<\/em> or ‘quake island’.<\/p>\nExperts from the National Institute of Oceanography, who are evaluating the island, said it was spewing methane gas at several points. There is a visible presence of marine life on the island, they said.<\/p>\n
“Our team found bubbles rising from the surface of the island that caught fire when a match was lit and we forbade our team from starting any fires. It is methane gas,\u201d Mohammad Danish, a marine biologist from the National Institute of Oceanography, told Geo News.<\/p>\n
The island is 60 to 70 feet above sea level and its land mass measures about 120 metres by 300 metres.<\/p>\n
This is the third time in 15 years that such a phenomenon has occurred along the Balochistan coast. Earlier, islands emerged in 1999 and in 2011 at a distance of two kilometers from the Makran coast near the point where the Hingol River drains into the sea.<\/p>\n
Both these islands emerged without an earthquake and collapsed in strong currents and winds.<\/p>\n
The same area witnessed an island\u2019s emergence in 1945 following an earthquake.<\/p>\n
Image:\u00a0An island that rose from the sea following an earthquake is pictured off Pakistan’s Gwadar coastline in the Arabian Sea ‘ Photograph: Reuters<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u092a\u093e\u0915\u093f\u0938\u094d\u0924\u093e\u0928 \u0915\u0940 \u0905\u092b\u094d\u0917\u093e\u0928 \u0938\u0940\u092e\u093e \u0915\u0947 \u092a\u093e\u0938 \u0917\u094d\u0935\u093e\u0926\u0930 \u092c\u0902\u0926\u0930\u0917\u093e\u0939 \u0915\u0947 \u0938\u092e\u0940\u092a \u0915\u0932 \u0915\u0947 \u092d\u0942\u0915\u0902\u092a \u0938\u0947 \u090f\u0915… more
Methane gas is emanating from a small island created in the Arabian Sea by the deadly earthquake that hit southwest Pakistan, prompting experts to warn people not to go near it.<\/p>\n
The site has fascinated local residents, who have thronged the coastline in Balochistan province to get a glimpse of the new piece of land that emerged from the sea.<\/p>\n
The 7.7-magnitude quake that struck Balochistan\u2019s remote Awaran district on Tuesday killed over 260 people and affected 300,000.<\/p>\n
The island sprang from the seabed off the coastline near the port of Gwadar, 400 km from the quake’s epicentre. The Pakistani media has dubbed it the Zalzala Jazeera<\/em> or ‘quake island’.<\/p>\n Experts from the National Institute of Oceanography, who are evaluating the island, said it was spewing methane gas at several points. There is a visible presence of marine life on the island, they said.<\/p>\n “Our team found bubbles rising from the surface of the island that caught fire when a match was lit and we forbade our team from starting any fires. It is methane gas,\u201d Mohammad Danish, a marine biologist from the National Institute of Oceanography, told Geo News.<\/p>\n The island is 60 to 70 feet above sea level and its land mass measures about 120 metres by 300 metres.<\/p>\n This is the third time in 15 years that such a phenomenon has occurred along the Balochistan coast. Earlier, islands emerged in 1999 and in 2011 at a distance of two kilometers from the Makran coast near the point where the Hingol River drains into the sea.<\/p>\n Both these islands emerged without an earthquake and collapsed in strong currents and winds.<\/p>\n The same area witnessed an island\u2019s emergence in 1945 following an earthquake.<\/p>\n Image:\u00a0An island that rose from the sea following an earthquake is pictured off Pakistan’s Gwadar coastline in the Arabian Sea ‘ Photograph: Reuters<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u092a\u093e\u0915\u093f\u0938\u094d\u0924\u093e\u0928 \u0915\u0940 \u0905\u092b\u094d\u0917\u093e\u0928 \u0938\u0940\u092e\u093e \u0915\u0947 \u092a\u093e\u0938 \u0917\u094d\u0935\u093e\u0926\u0930 \u092c\u0902\u0926\u0930\u0917\u093e\u0939 \u0915\u0947 \u0938\u092e\u0940\u092a \u0915\u0932 \u0915\u0947 \u092d\u0942\u0915\u0902\u092a \u0938\u0947 \u090f\u0915… more