Iwo-Jima volcano enters new eruptive period, Japan
Image credit: Copernicus EU/Sentinel-2, The Watchers. Acquired on July 19, 2024
Satellite images taken on July 19, 2024, suggest Japan’s Iwo-Jima volcano, also known as Ioto and Ogasawara-Iojima, has entered a new eruptive period.
A series of new submarine explosive activity started roughly 600 m (1 969 feet) off the coast of Okinahama beach in the island’s southern portion.
This activity started between July 9 and 19.
The last eruptive period at this volcano took place from October 18, 2023, to March 16, 2024 (VEI 1).
In August 2022, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) reported that for the first time in 1 000 years, volcanic eruptions spewing magma have taken place just off the southern coast of Ioto.
The island has undergone uplift for at least the past 700 years, accompanying resurgent doming of the caldera; a shoreline landed upon by Captain Cook’s surveying crew in 1779 is now 40 m (131 feet) above sea level.
The Motoyama plateau on the NE half of the island consists of submarine tuffs overlain by coral deposits and forms the island’s high point.
Many fumaroles are oriented along a NE-SW zone cutting through Motoyama. Numerous recorded phreatic eruptions, many from vents on the W and NW sides of the island, have accompanied the uplift.
References:
1 Possibly the first eruption of magma at Ioto volcano in 1 000 years, Japan – The Watchers – August 9, 2024
2 Ioto – Geological Summary – GVP – Accessed July 21, 2024
I am an Assistant Editor and Severe Weather & Science Journalist at The Watchers, specializing in real-time severe weather coverage, geophysical event reporting, and research-driven scientific analysis. You can reach me at rishav(at)watchers(.)news.
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