Violent volcanic eruption creates a new island south of Tokyo – Video: Asahi/Kazuhiro Ichikawa and Kotaro Ebara
According to the Japanese press, the explosion occurred on October 30. Lava accumulated beneath the ocean’s surface has emerged and formed a new island off the coast of Iwo Jima, south of Tokyo.
The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said that before the island was formed, volcanic tremors had been occurring in the area every 2 minutes since mid-October.
Setsuya Nakada, a professor of volcanology at the University of Tokyo, told the magazine newsweek The eruption off the coast of Iwo Jima, also known as Iwoto, began last year. Then this kept happening on 21 October 2023 also.
He said that when the eruption began in 2022, the depth of the seabed was only as shallow as 50 meters. “After about 10 days of continuous eruption, explosive materials such as rocks, pumice and sand were deposited on the seabed and reached the sea surface. Similarly, due to the continuing eruption, the size of this small island has increased,” he said.
The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s air base was monitoring the situation in the area when they heard a large explosion, and they also saw ash and sand flying into the sky.
Earlier, JMA had announced that they had discovered the island emerging from the depths.
The new island is now part of the tropical Ogasawara Archipelago, consisting mainly of reefs. If volcanic activity continues, the island may become even larger.
“When I flew over the water of Iwo Jima on November 3, the activity of the volcano’s eruption changed,” Professor Nakada said. “Volcanic ash and bombs erupted massively up to a height of 100 meters and they fell back into the crater, then an ash cloud was seen moving horizontally from the crater towards the sea surface. This phenomenon shows that lava has the ability to reach the ocean surface without coming in contact with ocean water.”
share with newspaper japan timesThe professor believes that lava flowing in the area will help preserve the island, potentially making it a permanent part of the landscape.
Officials said they would continue to monitor volcanic activity in the area in the coming days.
Volcanic and earthquake “hot spots”.
Japan is one of the most volcanic countries in the world. The country is located where four tectonic plates meet, so it is a center of volcanic and seismic activity.
When underwater volcanoes erupt, their lava sometimes breaks the surface of the water and forms islands.
Earlier there had been other islands in the Ogasawara Archipelago. In 2013, an underwater volcanic eruption in the area created a new island. This island later merged into an island formed by underground volcanic activity called Nishinoshima.
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