Pakistan quake island off Gwadar 'emits flammable gas'

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-24272552

by anigbrowl • 13 years ago

93 40 13 years ago

bbc.co.uk

"There were dead fish on the surface. And on one side we could hear the hissing sound of the escaping gas," Mr Baloch said.
Though they couldn't smell methane, they did put a match to the fissures from where the gas was oozing, and set it on fire.
"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."

Yes, this is what I always do when I encounter dead fish and an unknown source of hissing gas: light it with a match.

"Move fast and break things!"

lifeisstillgood3• 13 years ago

I have a sneaking suspicion it's another one of those cognitive biases - get off a boat onto land and you feel safer. even if the boat will still be floating years after the land is.

You would be a fool to try the match trick in your apartment, but on an island? we just don't have that much experience of the earth blowing up around us.

then again the group of people who are first onto a volcanic island that popped out of the sea are a pretty self selecting bunch of foolhardy idiots :-)

vacri2• 13 years ago

The ground doesn't have to explode for a gaseous fireball to envelop you.

daeken• 13 years ago

Something about that whole situation seems fishy.

famo• 13 years ago

Reminds me of this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derweze

prawn• 13 years ago

Or this, near Cirali in Turkey. Quite interesting to visit:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chimaera_(geography)

alex_doom• 13 years ago

Safety Third

Shivetya• 13 years ago

Sadly, I remember far too many old quotes from very bad movies.

From the 1974 movie, Flesh Gordon.

[after stepping off the space ship and taking a deep breath]

Dr. Flexi Jerkoff: Good, there's oxygen on this planet.

bastards• 13 years ago

Yes, this is what I always do when I encounter dead fish and an unknown source of hissing gas: light it with a match.

Makes me think of Beavis: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTkEN_wB2A4

What I'd like to see is that the locals could advantage of it and setup a natural gas mining operation, because they may have found a large pocket of it.

greenyoda• 13 years ago

"Though they couldn't smell methane, they did put a match to the fissures from where the gas was oozing, and set it on fire."

You can't smell methane - it's an odorless gas. The methane you use for cooking ("natural gas") has an odor added to it artificially for safety.

bsullivan012• 13 years ago

Canaries should know this very well ;)

As for what they smelled, maybe they are other gasses as well considering what those rocks and earth went through (sulfur?)

seldo• 13 years ago

They're smelling hydrogen sulfide, which is a volcanic gas also found in combination with raw natural gas. It's the "rotten egg" smell.

InclinedPlane• 13 years ago

Naturally occurring natural gas typically contains impurities such as thiols, mercaptans, and hydrogen sulfide which are strongly smelling. These impurities are not always present though, and they tend to be removed during industrial processing, which is why additional odorants are added.

brandoncor• 13 years ago

I really wonder what it looked like as it happened - if it was instantaneous or if it was gradual, was there a cloud of steam, etc.

lifeisstillgood3• 13 years ago

could any seismologists / other geographers go into some more detail: pockets of inflammable gas are stored under 200m of seafloor, seismic activity heats them up and they rise the whole seabed to the ocean surface. and then drift down again?

I can't say its making a lot of sense. what is the inflammable gas? not methane presumably. I guess it's some form of honeycombed rock with lots of little pockets, presumably lava that has rolled over seabed, so not really "attached". I mean how does it all work?

(and that's the driver for all science in a nutshell)

beat• 13 years ago

Methane hydrate. Basically an ice-like substance of methane trapped in water crystals. It can stay in that form when trapped under ocean sediments (there are vast amounts in the ocean), but when pressure is released and it's exposed to warmth, the methane can escape the water structure.

andrewtbham• 13 years ago

"Buy land, they're not making it anymore." - Mark Twain

Another real estate cliché proven wrong ;-)

lisper• 13 years ago

Kilauea produces new land regularly.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kīlauea#1952_to_the_present

e2e8• 13 years ago

Also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zuiderzee_Works

NovemberWest2• 13 years ago

From a different article about the island: When a devastating earthquake struck the remote Awaran district in Pakistan's Baluchistan province on Tuesday, it killed hundreds of people and left thousands homeless, as the government struggles to rescue those who need help.

IIRC, Pakistan is demographically a very young country, with overall low education levels and a lot of challenges. I will voice my hope that this oddity somehow brings them more help with the aftermath of the quake than they might otherwise be likely to get.

WasimBhai• 13 years ago

Actually, Pakistan has reasonable resources to handle this kind of situation. The devastating earth quake of 2005 precipitated the formation of National Disaster Management Authority. With army supporting operations, I am sure things will be handled well.

NovemberWest2• 13 years ago

Hoping someone gets additional assistance is not the same thing as calling them incomptent. I used to have friends in Pakistan and I read a bit about the country in relation to the world economy etc. I drew some alarming conclusions about Pakistan and other countries with a similarly young demographic in terms of potential disproportionate impact on global stability and the like. Your implied objections to my well wishes aside, I still hope this oddity calls attention to Pakistan and brings them additional support.

Have a great evening/day/whatever.

jere• 13 years ago

Working video: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57604518/pakistan-earthq...

umsm• 13 years ago

I hate that! I switched tabs while the 30s commercial was playing and then realized I just missed the actual video!

When I tried to replay the video, I only got commercials...

presidentender• 13 years ago

Who owns it?

icesoldier• 13 years ago

Pakistan, I'd say, by virtue of being a short boat ride from the Pakistani coast.

bsullivan012• 13 years ago

They're lucky it wasn't near India or both sides might have had another pretext to go to war--again. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indo-Pakistani_wars_and_conflic... Islands are huge prizes, if they're inhabited they also get some 200 miles of sea around it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exclusive_economic_zone

manojlds• 13 years ago

Anything within 12 nautical miles would be Pakistan's

khalidmbajwa• 13 years ago

I am from Pakistan, and this damn island is all everyone is talking about. My facebook feed is flooded with people planning to go visit the island :P. Personally, i dont see what all the fuss is about. Might just be the rise of planet of the apes people :P

anigbrowl2• 13 years ago

When did you last hear of a large island appearing in the space of 30 minutes?

sliverstorm• 13 years ago

I've heard of Atlantis disappearing over that sort of time span

pmorici2• 13 years ago

This happens in the US too near fracking sites. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1558250/

steve19• 13 years ago

Babies are also conceived near fracking sites. I wonder if there is a connection ...

Methane coming up from the earth is not uncommon. Considering that 10,000s or 100,000s or more years worth of decayed plants and animals were buried under the earth. Strange that it is coming to the surface of a brand new island.

pmorici2• 13 years ago

Um, I guess, but conception is typically not like an earth quake where as fracking probably induces similar effects in the earth.

United857• 13 years ago

Wonder if they could create Pakistan's version of this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Door_to_Hell

andrewflnr• 13 years ago

Which will make the whole affair that much more epic as it sinks back below the waves.

vacri2• 13 years ago

The island is made of politicians?

anigbrowl2• 13 years ago

The Daily Mail, as usual, has the best photo coverage: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2431913/Massi...

Also, I really wish HN mods would not reflexively rewrite headlines. The news here was the remarkably sudden appearance of a decent-sized island, the fact that it emits flammable gas is distinctly beside the point.

silly19328• 13 years ago

Coincidentally, I know some people who emit flammable gas after eating too much Pakistani food.

Pakistan quake island off Gwadar 'emits flammable gas'

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