A new volcanic island has appeared in the Red Sea almost overnight. The eruption was first reported by local fishermen in mid-December 2011, 40 miles off the coast of Yemen. This before and after animated GIF shows the before and after.
The second image was taken on January 7, 2012 by the Advanced Land Imager on the Earth Observing-1 satellite. It shows the island well above the sea's surface and still growing while a plume of steam from the water and other volcanic gases are blown by the wind.
According to NASA, the land is "now about 530 by 710 meters (1,700 by 2,300 feet) across."
[NASA Earth Observatory]
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