Report on Aira (Japan) — 2 December-8 December 2020
Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 2 December-8 December 2020
Managing Editor: Sally Sennert.
Please cite this report as:
Global Volcanism Program, 2020. Report on Aira (Japan) (Sennert, S, ed.). Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 2 December-8 December 2020. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.
Aira
Japan
31.5772°N, 130.6589°E; summit elev. 1117 m
All times are local (unless otherwise noted)
JMA reported that during 30 November-7 December incandescence from Minamidake Crater (at Aira Caldera’s Sakurajima volcano) was often visible nightly. An explosion on 2 December produced an eruption plume that rose 1 km above the crater rim and blended into weather clouds. Volcanic bombs were ejected 1-1.3 km away from the crater. That same day the sulfur dioxide emission rate was high, at 2,500 tons per day. During 4-7 December two eruption plumes rose as high as 1.2 km above the crater rim. The Alert Level remained at 3 (on a 5-level scale).
Geological Summary. The Aira caldera in the northern half of Kagoshima Bay contains the post-caldera Sakurajima volcano, one of Japan's most active. Eruption of the voluminous Ito pyroclastic flow accompanied formation of the 17 x 23 km caldera about 22,000 years ago. The smaller Wakamiko caldera was formed during the early Holocene in the NE corner of the caldera, along with several post-caldera cones. The construction of Sakurajima began about 13,000 years ago on the southern rim and built an island that was joined to the Osumi Peninsula during the major explosive and effusive eruption of 1914. Activity at the Kitadake summit cone ended about 4,850 years ago, after which eruptions took place at Minamidake. Frequent eruptions since the 8th century have deposited ash on the city of Kagoshima, located across Kagoshima Bay only 8 km from the summit. The largest recorded eruption took place during 1471-76.