A new volcanic island has appeared in the Red Sea almost overnight. The eruption was first reported by local fishermen in mid-December 2011, 64km off the coast of Yemen. This before and after animated GIF shows the before and after.
It was taken on January 7, 2012, by the Advanced Land Imager on the Earth Observing-1 satellite. It shows the island rising over sea’s surface and 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 metres across”.