Myth busting: Was Pulau Tiga really first created by a mud volcano eruption in 1897?

Abstract

Pulau Tiga is Malaysia’s largest mud volcano, and the entire island is famously reported to have suddenly appeared in September 1897. The story of Pulau Tiga’s “birth” following two large earthquakes in the Philippines is widespread, being found in scientific papers, media stories, Wikipedia, and thousands of websites. This study “fact checks” whether Pulau Tiga really first appeared in 1897. The event is described in detail in one 1986 scientific study, and the idea of Pulau Tiga’s sudden appearance is supported by instances of islands being created by large mud volcano eruptions, such as Pulau Batu Hairan offshore Malaysia in 1988. However, maps of Borneo published prior to 1897 indicate that Pulau Tiga is charted on maps dating back to 1554 and specifically named on more than 40 maps. These maps conclusively prove that Pulau Tiga does not suddenly appear in 1897 and also indicate that Pulau Tiga has had approximately the same shape for centuries, demonstrating that the island was also not partially formed in 1897. A review of the newspapers and scientific reports from 1897 to 1904 reveals that two new islands did emerge offshore northern Borneo on 21 September 1897, but neither of them is Pulau Tiga. New mud volcano islands temporarily appeared off the western Klias Peninsula near Bukit Tomboh and off the northern tip of Sabah at the approximate position of the Pulau Batu Hairan. The origin of Pulau Tiga’s 1897 birth “myth” is proposed to be a 1986 study by McManus and Tate, who appear to have confused reports of an island forming off the Klias Peninsula in 1897 with an eruption of Pulau Tiga. This study definitively “busts” the myth of Pulau Tiga’s 1897 birth and unearths details of Malaysia’s history of large mud volcano eruptions that have been largely forgotten by the geoscience community.