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Report on Suwanosejima (Japan) — 22 January-28 January 2020


Suwanosejima

Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 22 January-28 January 2020
Managing Editor: Sally Sennert.

Please cite this report as:

Global Volcanism Program, 2020. Report on Suwanosejima (Japan) (Sennert, S, ed.). Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 22 January-28 January 2020. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.

Weekly Report (22 January-28 January 2020)

Suwanosejima

Japan

29.638°N, 129.714°E; summit elev. 796 m

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


JMA reported that white plumes rose as high as 700 m above the rim of Suwanosejima’s Ontake Crater during 17-24 January. Crater incandescence was visible nightly. No changes in crater morphology were observed during an overflight on 21 January compared to 21 February 2019 observations; white plumes rose 400 m above the rim. The Alert Level remained at 2 (on a 5-level scale).

Geological Summary. The 8-km-long island of Suwanosejima in the northern Ryukyu Islands consists of an andesitic stratovolcano with two active summit craters. The summit is truncated by a large breached crater extending to the sea on the E flank that was formed by edifice collapse. One of Japan's most frequently active volcanoes, it was in a state of intermittent Strombolian activity from Otake, the NE summit crater, between 1949 and 1996, after which periods of inactivity lengthened. The largest recorded eruption took place in 1813-14, when thick scoria deposits covered residential areas, and the SW crater produced two lava flows that reached the western coast. At the end of the eruption the summit of Otake collapsed, forming a large debris avalanche and creating an open collapse scarp extending to the eastern coast. The island remained uninhabited for about 70 years after the 1813-1814 eruption. Lava flows reached the eastern coast of the island in 1884. Only about 50 people live on the island.

Source: Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA)