Tropical Storm "Dolphin" formed well south of mainland Japan on September 22, 2020, as the 12th named storm of the 2020 Pacific typhoon season. According to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), Dolphin is expected to travel close to the areas from...
September 23, 2020
A strong earthquake registered by the JMA as M6.1 hit near the east coast of Honshu, Japan at 02:44 UTC (11:44 LT) on September 12, 2020. The agency is reporting a depth of 40 km (25 miles). USGS is reporting M6.1 at a depth of 32 km (20 miles), EMSC M6.1 at 51 km...
September 12, 2020
Typhoon "Haishen" lashed Japan on September 5 and 6, 2020, before making landfall in Ulsan, South Korea at around 00:00 UTC on Monday, September 7 as a Category 2 hurricane equivalent. At least 3 people have been killed, 1 in Japan and 2 in South Korea....
September 07, 2020
Typhoon "Haishen" underwent a rapid intensification phase on September 3, 2020, and became the first super typhoon of the 2020 Pacific typhoon season. The system is forecast to pass over the Ryukyu Islands, west of Kyushu, make landfall near Busan, South...
September 04, 2020
Typhoon "Maysak" became the strongest typhoon of the year on August 31, 2020, with its eye passing very close to Kume Island, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. The storm is moving towards the Korean Peninsula, with landfall expected near Busan, South Korea on...
September 01, 2020
Tropical Storm "Maysak" (known as Julian in the Philippines) formed east of the Philippines on August 28, 2020, as the 9th named storm of the 2020 Pacific typhoon season. At 19:00 UTC on August 29, the system was upgraded to typhoon and at 21:00 UTC to...
August 31, 2020
A very bright fireball was recorded streaking through the night sky over Japan's Kanto region at 14:32 UTC (22:30 LT) on August 21, 2020. This is the second notable meteor event in Japan since July 1. One of the many eyewitnesses described it as a completely red...
August 25, 2020
On August 21, 2020, the fire department in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, received numerous calls from residents reporting an unusual smell in the area over the course of an hour. Seismologist Manabu Takahashi suggests that the strange phenomenon may be a precursor of...
August 24, 2020
Tropical Storm "Jangmi" formed late August 8, 2020, as the 5th named storm of the 2020 Pacific typhoon season. The system made landfall on the southern tip of Geoje Island and its remnants are now bringing heavy rain to the country's flood-stricken...
August 10, 2020
Continuous explosive activity was reported at Japan's Suwanosejima volcano over the past several days, with another eruption recorded on Thursday, August 6, 2020, in which the ash plume reached up to 2.3 km (7 000 feet) a.s.l. The Alert Level remains at 2 (on a...
August 07, 2020
Series of powerful eruptions were recorded at Nishinoshima volcano over the past couple of days. On August 3, 2020, the Tokyo VAAC warned about a volcanic ash plume that rose up to 4 900 m (16 00 feet) altitude. Volcanic activity surged in June 2020, with recurring...
August 04, 2020
Almost 2 500 people have been evacuated as record-high rainfall poured over northern Japan into Wednesday, July 29, 2020, causing damaging floods and landslides, including in the Yamagata Prefecture, where the Mogami River burst its banks and a mudslide left 540...
July 29, 2020
Parts of the Yamagata Prefecture in Japan recorded more than 200 mm (8 inches) of rain in a 24-hour period to Tuesday, July 28, 2020. As a result, the Mogami River has overflowed, leaving residents on the highest alert. In Nagai City, 206.5 mm (8.1 inches) of rain...
July 28, 2020
NASA's Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission captured the rainfall accumulation across Asia-- from India to Japan-- this monsoon season, from June 1 to July 20, 2020. The data are remotely-sensed estimates that came from the Integrated Multi-Satellite...
July 23, 2020
A persistent stationary front known as the Meiyu front is affecting East Asian countries since the rainy season began in May. The front is responsible for record-breaking rainfalls, mainly in Japan and China, and causing catastrophic floods and landslides that have...
July 17, 2020
A fireball that exploded over Tokyo, Japan, on July 1, 2020, has been identified as a meteor after two meteorites were recovered in the prefecture of Chiba, the National Museum of Nature and Science announced on July 13, 2020. The fragments, which landed on a...
July 15, 2020
High-level volcanic activity continues at Nishinoshima, the Japan Meteorological Agency's reported on Wednesday, July 15, 2020. A powerful eruption took place on July 11, with incandescent material thrown high above the crater, large lava flows, and an ash plume...
July 15, 2020
The death toll from the record-breaking downpours on the island of Kyushu in Japan has climbed to 68 on Monday, July 13, 2020. On the same day, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe traveled to Kumamoto Prefecture to assess the damage inflicted by flooding and landslides...
July 14, 2020
The death toll caused by record-breaking rains in Kyushu, Japan hit 56 on Tuesday, July 7, 2020. The Defense Ministry said it will double the number of troops to 20 000 and deploy them to hard-hit areas as disaster widened to the island's northern region. A team...
July 08, 2020
A column of volcanic ash produced by Japanese Nishinoshima volcano rose up to 8 300 m (27 230 feet) above the sea level on July 4, 2020-- its highest since 2013, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) confirmed on July 6. Volcanic activity at the volcano surged in...
July 06, 2020
As many as 50 people are feared dead or missing and about 270 000 were prompted to evacuate their homes after severe flooding hit southern Japan's Kyushu island over the weekend. At least 10 locations in Kumamoto Prefecture recorded more than 410 mm (16 inches)...
July 06, 2020
A bright fireball streaked across Japan's capital Tokyo at 17:32 UTC on July 1, 2020 (02:32 JST, July 2). Many people reported hearing a sonic boom minutes after the meteor exploded, which is considered rare, according to the National Astronomical Observatory....
July 03, 2020
Given current data analysis, Sakurajima volcano in southwestern Japan may erupt on a large scale -- a weather agency panel warned on Tuesday, July 1, 2020. According to the panel on the forecast of volcanic activities at the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), the...
July 02, 2020
Nishinoshima has entered a period of intense volcanic activity, with frequent explosive eruptions and ash emissions observed in recent days. Its summit crater has extended in the southwest direction, the Japan Coast Guard (JCG) reported on July 1, 2020 On June 12,...
July 01, 2020
The eruption in Japan's Asamayama volcano in the year 1108 may have led to an extreme weather event that triggered severe famine in Europe, new research revealed. The study is based in part on the research team's analysis of ice cores extracted from glaciers...
June 28, 2020
An average of roughly 1 500 landslides took place in Japan ever year during the last 10 years, marking a surge of nearly 50 percent, according to a government report endorsed by the Cabinet of Japan. Between 2000 and 2009, the average number of landslides per year...
June 27, 2020
Torrential rain struck the southwestern prefecture of Nagasaki in Japan, on Thursday morning, June 25, 2020-- an event described by the national meteorological agency as 'once-in-50-years.' Rainfall in Sasebo also hit a record high for the month of June,...
June 25, 2020
A strong and shallow earthquake registered by the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) as M6.2 hit near the east coast of Honshu at 19:47 UTC on June 24, 2020 (04:47 LT, June 25). The agency is reporting a depth of 30 km (18.6 miles). The USGS registered it as M5.9 at...
June 25, 2020
A strong and shallow earthquake registered by the USGS as M6.6 hit the Ryukyu Islands region of Japan at 15:51 UTC on June 13, 2020. The agency is reporting a depth of 160 km (99 miles). JMA is reporting M6.3 at a depth of 160 km, EMSC M6.7 at a depth of 155 km (96...
June 13, 2020
Volcanic activity remains high at the Japanese Nishinoshima volcano, with large lava flows and ash emissions. Nishinoshima is the summit of a massive submarine volcano that has prominent satellitic peaks to the S, W, and NE. A near-crater warning is in effect since...
June 10, 2020
Strong eruptions continue at Minamidake crater of Sakurajima volcano in Japan since April 27, 2020. A Level 3 near-crater warning is in effect in the area since 2016. A strong explosion at 13:46 UTC (22:52 LT) on April 27 generated an ash plume that rose over 3 km...
May 11, 2020
A strong and shallow earthquake registered by the JMA as M6.0 hit northwest of Ryukyu Islands, Japan at 11:54 UTC (20:54 JST) on May 3, 2020. The agency is reporting a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles). Both USGS and EMSC are reporting it as M5.9 at a depth of 10 km. The...
May 03, 2020
A tsunami up to 30 m (98 feet) could hit Hokkaido in northern Japan and Iwate in the northeast if an M9 quake occurs off the Pacific coast, a government panel warned Tuesday, April 21, 2020, based on a worst-case scenario, adding that a mega-earthquake centered...
April 29, 2020
A strong and shallow earthquake registered by the JMA as M6.1 hit near the east coast of Honshu at 20:39 UTC on April 19, 2020 (05:39 LT, April 20). The agency is reporting a depth of 50 km (31 miles). The USGS is reporting M6.4 at a depth of 41.7 km (25.9 miles);...
April 19, 2020
A very strong earthquake registered by the JMA as M6.8 at a depth of 490 km (304 miles) struck the Ogasawara (Bonin Islands) region of Japan at 08:25 UTC (17:26 JST) on April 18, 2020. The USGS is reporting M6.6 at a depth of 458 km (284 miles); EMSC M6.6 at a depth...
April 18, 2020
Japan's capital Tokyo could end up paralyzed within just three hours if a major eruption of Mount Fuji-- 100 km (62 miles) southwest of the city-- were to happen today, as shown in a recent simulation by the government's Central Disaster Management Council....
April 02, 2020
The Japan Coast Guard (JCG) has presented InSAR results from November 17, 2019, to February 28, 2020, showing a growth of Nishinoshima's central cone as well as changes to the island's surface, with the coastline expanding due to lava flows. Moreover, the...
March 13, 2020
Kuchinoerabujima volcano in Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan erupted early Monday, February 3, 2020, ejecting volcanic ash up to 7 000 m (23 000 feet) above sea level. According to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), pyroclastic flows -- the first since January 29,...
February 03, 2020
Nishinoshima volcano in Japan has been showing continuous steam emissions rising from the island from January 15 to 21, 2020, the Japan Coast Guard reported. Lava flows were also seen entering the sea, while the heat radiation from the volcano has also been strong....
January 29, 2020
Residents of Sapporo city in Hokkaido prefecture, Japan, woke up to the largest amount of snowfall this winter on Tuesday, January 21, 2020, at 39 cm (15 inches) by 02:00 UTC (11:00 LT). The snow came as parts of the nation, including the island, were experiencing a...
January 23, 2020