Report on Nishinoshima (Japan) — July 1979
Scientific Event Alert Network Bulletin, vol. 4, no. 7 (July 1979)
Managing Editor: David Squires.
Nishinoshima (Japan) Water discoloration seen on 15 November 1978
Please cite this report as:
Global Volcanism Program, 1979. Report on Nishinoshima (Japan) (Squires, D., ed.). Scientific Event Alert Network Bulletin, 4:7. Smithsonian Institution. https://doi.org/10.5479/si.GVP.SEAN197907-284096
Nishinoshima
Japan
27.247°N, 140.874°E; summit elev. 100 m
All times are local (unless otherwise noted)
On 15 November 1978, discolored water was visible at 27.25°N, 140.88°E, 6.5 km NW of Nishino-shima, the first activity there since the explosions of May 1973-summer 1974.
Reference. Ehara, S., Yuhara, K., and Ossaka, J., 1977, Rapid cooling of volcano Nishinoshima-shinto, the Ogasawara Islands: Bulletin of the Volcanological Society of Japan, v. 22, p. 75-84 (SEAN Part I-Observational Results) and p. 123-131 (Part II-Interpretations).
Geological Summary. The small island of Nishinoshima was enlarged when several new islands coalesced during an eruption in 1973-74. Another eruption that began offshore in 2013 completely covered the previous exposed surface and enlarged the island again. Water discoloration has been observed on several occasions since. The island is the summit of a massive submarine volcano that has prominent satellitic peaks to the S, W, and NE. The summit of the southern cone rises to within 214 m of the ocean surface 9 km SSE.
Information Contacts: JMSA, Tokyo; JMA, Tokyo.
