The magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck an area of southern Pakistan on September 25th and there are at least 328 confirmed deaths. The earthquake was so powerful it caused the seabed to rise; now an island about 76-91m in length and jutting about 18-21m above the water lies off Pakistan's Gwadar coastline in the Arabian Sea. The island formed as a result of the shaking, and was not uplifted by the fault; it is essentially a mud volcano. Though curious locals who visited the island could not smell any gas, they could hear the hissing sound of escaping fumes so put a match to the fissures from where the gas was oozing, and set it on fire. The fire took quite a bit of effort to put out.