Pulau Batu Hairan emerged out of the sea some 70km from Kudat town, Sabah, in 1988.
LEGENDS and myths have always captured the imagination, but some mysteries are rooted in geological reality rather than folklore.
In the waters off Sabah, an extraordinary phenomenon occurred that became part of local lore and scientific record.
Is it true that Malaysia has a ghost island?
Verdict:
TRUE
Malaysia does indeed have a ghost island known as Pulau Batu Hairan, which "mysteriously" emerged from the sea near Kudat, Sabah.
Pulau Batu Hairan first appeared on April 15, 1988, next to the east side of Banggi Island, roughly at latitude 7 degrees and 16 minutes north and longitude 117 degrees 20 minutes east, about 70 kilometres northeast of Kudat town.
According to villagers, this was not its first appearance, as it had emerged once before as early as 1941, during World War 2.
Initially small in size, it gradually grew over several days to approximately the size of a football field.
After two weeks, the landmass was estimated to be about 60 to 70 metres in diameter.
Roughly rounded in shape, it measured about two to three metres in height, taking into account the fall and rise of the tide.
Pulau Batu Hairan is just off the coast of Pulau Banggi in Kudat, Sabah.
According to Dr Felix Tongkul, a renowned geologist, the birth of Pulau Batu Hairan was due to mud volcanism, which is closely related to the geology of the northern part of Sabah.
Its landmass was pushed to the surface by mud volcano activity, specifically after an abrupt explosion of trapped undersea gas.
Full of corals, it was described as very beautiful by those who saw it.
When it emerged, decomposed marine fauna including fish, lobsters and other benthic animals were carried up with it which fishermen in the area took advantage of.
Pulau Batu Hairan then disappeared on Feb 25, 1990, sinking back beneath the waves after less than two years of existence.
The Sabah Museum and Archives Journal published a six-page article in 1990 titled "Pulau Batu Hairan – The Birth of a New Island" that explained the formation of this ghost island in detail with diagrams.
Pulau Batu Hairan is not alone in this phenomenon, as similar ghost islands have appeared around the world.
In the Caspian Sea off Azerbaijan, the Kumani Bank mud volcano has created temporary islands multiple times since 1861, with the most recent appearance occurring in 2023 before eroding away by late 2024.
The strongest recorded eruption at Kumani Bank in 1950 produced an island 700 metres across and six metres high.
In 2013, a 7.7 magnitude earthquake off the coast of Pakistan triggered a mud volcano eruption that created a ghost island 65 feet high near the port city of Gwadar, which vanished by 2016.
Azerbaijan is notable for having more than 300 mud volcanoes, making it the world capital of mud volcanoes due to its position above the Arabian and Eurasian tectonic plates.
These ghost islands demonstrate the dynamic and unpredictable nature of Earth's geological processes.
References:
1. Felix Tongkul . 1988. Geological control on the birth of the Pulau Batu Hairan mud volcano, Kudat Sabah. (Pdf) - https://gsmpubl.wordpress.com/
2. https://www.mysabah.com/
3. https://earthobservatory.nasa.
