An explosion from the Beyonesu Rocks at the Myjinsho submarine caldera in Japan's central Izu Islands breaches the sea surface on 23 September 1952. These cock’s tail jets of blocks and ash are characteristic of shallow submarine explosions. This photo was taken 5 seconds after the explosion breached the sea surface; five minutes later the eruption was over and the sea was again calm. The suddenness of these powerful explosions proved to be fatal to 31 people on a research vessel that sailed over the vent the following day.

Photo courtesy of Ryohei Morimoto (University of Tokyo), 1952.

This image is made available under the Public Domain Dedication CC0 license, but proper attribution is appreciated.

Galleries: Submarine Volcanoes

Keywords: eruption | lava water interaction | Surtseyan | pyroclastic surge | explosive eruption | phreatomagmatic | cock’s-tail plume | submarine volcano

Myojinsho