Japan is experiencing its strongest cold wave of the season, with multiple prefectures recording over 1 m (3.3 feet) of snowfall in just 72 hours, setting multiple records across the country.
During a nighttime eruption on Thursday, January 30, 2025, the Sakurajima volcano produced an impressive volcanic lightning show, a rare but well-documented phenomenon associated with explosive eruptions.
A sinkhole that swallowed a truck and trapped the driver after opening at an intersection in Yashio, part of the Greater Tokyo Area, on Tuesday, January 28, 2025, collapsed further on Thursday, January 30, merging with the second opening that formed nearby and nearly doubling in size.
A large sinkhole opened up at an intersection in Yashio, Saitama Prefecture, on Tuesday, January 28, 2025, swallowing a passing truck and trapping its driver inside.
Japan has increased the estimated probability of a magnitude 8 and 9 megaquake occurring in the Nankai Trough within the next 30 years to around 80% on January 16, 2025, after an M6.8 earthquake hit near the coast of Kyushu. The probability was previously estimated at 70 to 80%.
A strong and shallow earthquake registered by the USGS as M6.8 hit near the coast of Kyushu, Japan at 12:19 UTC (21:19 LT) on January 13, 2025. The agency is reporting a depth of 49 km (30 miles). The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) is reporting M6.4 at a depth of 30 km (18 miles).
Heavy sea-effect snow has been affecting parts of Japan since Thursday, January 9, 2025, with more than 1 m (3 feet) of snow already registered in some regions and snowfall expected to persist through Saturday. Certain areas have already received twice the usual snowfall.
The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) reported explosive eruptions at Sakurajima volcano between 07:10 and 07:29 LT on Monday, December 23, 2024, with ash clouds rising to approximately 3 000 m (9 850 feet) above the volcano.
A very bright fireball was observed over Hokkaido shortly after 01:00 local time (LT) on Thursday, December 5, 2024 — 16:00 UTC on December 4.
A strong and shallow M6.4 earthquake hit off the coast of Japan’s Noto Peninsula on Tuesday, November 26, 2024. Tremors of varying intensities (seismic intensity 1 or higher) were recorded across regions from northeastern to western Japan, including Ishikawa, Toyama, Niigata, and Fukui prefectures. The quake was an aftershock of a major M7.6 earthquake on January 1, 2024, in which more than 440 people lost their lives.
