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Super typhoon Haiyan, which hit the Philippines with winds of up to 195 mph, was so powerful that it rolled a boulder weighing more than 26 adult male African elephants up a beach for 150 feet.

It is the largest rock to be moved by a storm ever recorded, according to scientists who examined huge piles of debris deposited by the typhoon in the island of Samar in 2013.

Haiyan, which is one of the most powerful tropical cyclones on record, killed more than 6,000 people, devastated more than a million homes and caused widespread destruction as it swept across the Philippines in November last year.

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Typhoon Haiyan was so powerful it created Tsunami-like waves that swept this 198 ton boulder up a beach

More than 16 million people were affected as storm surges of nearly 23 feet (7 metres) and waves of 16 feet (5 metres) smashed the coastline.

Now researchers from the University of Cologne and the University of the Philippines, said the category five storm was so powerful that the waves it created dislodged some of the most massive boulders to be recorded.

The largest weighted, around 198 ton (180 tonnes) and was rolled 150 feet (45 metres) up a slope of a beach on the south east coast of Samar.

Measuring more than 29.5 feet long (9 metres) and 14.7 feet wide (4.5 metres), it was almost the same size as the largest animal on the planet, a blue whale.

Dr Max Engel and his colleagues from the University of Cologne said they initially thought they had been a mistranslation when they were told by local fisherman about the boulder.

Another boulder weighing around 77 tons (70 tonnes) was thrown 150 feet by the storm surge while a 25.9 ton (23.5 tonnes ) boulder was torn from a cliff face and carried almost 20 feet above level.

Several other boulders of around 18.7 tons (17 tonnes) were carried so far that they were finally dropped inland at heights of around 40 feet above sea level.

The researchers found distinctive marks on the rock that showed they had been moved by the storm, including downward facing rock pools and patches of grass on the bottom sides of the boulder.

They also compared satellite photos taken before and after the storm.

The researchers discovered several large boulders had been carried up the beach by the storm waves

 The storm was so powerful that sea water carried huge quantities of debris inland as it surged up the coast

Eastern Samar in central Philipinnes were among the most badly hit by typhoon Haiyan in November 2013

New video shows Philippines hit by typhoon Haiyan

Dr Engel, who presented the findings at the fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union, said that it appeared the typhoon created protracted tsunami-like waves that pushed the enormous rocks up the beach.

In a paper titled 'Storm surge of super typhoon Haiyan on Samar moved the largest boulder ever documented for a recent storm', he said: 'Downward-facing rock pools, grass patches, living barnacles, roots and soil staining on exposed former bottom sides, and fresh wood jammed under the rocks provide unambiguous evidence for sub-recent transport and overturning.

'We conclude that the geological legacy of Haiyan calls for a careful reconsideration of possible storm surge transport where boulders, based on their size, previously associated with tsunami impacts and storms, have been ruled out to be the cause.'

He added: 'The observation we made with the giant boulders and the entire pattern of boulder distribution which resembles what we would expect for a tsunami, indicates that storms can induce patterns of boulder transport similar to tsunamis.

'We currently think that storm surge was not the main process shifting the boulders but another long-wave phenomenon that is evolving from groups of extremely high and steep regular storm waves when interacting with the coral reef.

'This phenomenon obviously caused a tens of seconds to minute-long one-directional high-velocity flow in the area capable of transporting the giant boulders.' 

Scientists from the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore also found Haiyan tore rocks from reefs that line the coastline of Samar.

They found a 99 ton (90 tonnes) boulder and several others weighing more than 66 tons (60 tonnes) had been dislodged from reef platforms close to Hernani on the Pacific coast of eastern Samar. 

Adam Switzer, who lead the Nanyang team, said: 'The large clasts on the Hernani coast provide further evidence that storm waves are capable of quarrying and transporting very large clasts.'

The boulders were found on the south east coast of Samar, which was badly hit by Typhoon Haiyan in 2013

Super typhoon Haiyan was a category five storm and is one of the most powerful tropical cyclones on record

Winds of 145mph created waves that measured up to 16 feet as typhoon Haiyan swept across the Philippines