Shinmoedake volcano eruption on Friday 22 June 2018.

Mount Shinmoedake, a 1421 m volcano that part of the Kirishima Volcanic Complex on southern Kyūshū Island, erupted again on the morning of Friday 22 June 2018, producing a column of ash that rose several kilometres above the summit of the volcano and and through fragments of rock over 1100 m from the caldera. This is the latest in a series of erutpions on the volcano, which began in October 2017, after a six year period of inactivity.

Ash column over Mount Shinmoedake, Japan, following an eruption on Friday 22 June 2018. Reuters.

Japan has a complex tectonic situation, with parts of the country on four different tectonic plates. Kyūshū Island lies at the northeast end of the Ryukyu Island Arc, which sits on top of the boundary between the Eurasian and Philippine Plates. The Philippine Plate is being subducted beneath the Eurasian Plate, in the Ryukyo Trench, to the Southeast of the Islands. As it is drawn into the interior of the Earth, the tectonic plate is partially melted by the heat of the Earth's interior, and liquid magma rises up through the overlying Eurasian Plate to form the volcanoes of the Ryukyu Islands and Kyūshū.

The movement of the Pacific and Philippine Plates beneath eastern Honshu. Laurent Jolivet/Institut des Sciences de la Terre d'Orléans/Sciences de la Terre et de l'Environnement.

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Ongoing eruptions on Mount Shinmoedake, Japan.

Mount Shinmoedake, a 1421 m volcano that part of the Kirishima Volcanic Complex on southern Kyūshū Island, erupted again on the morning of Thursday 2 April 2018, producing a column of ash that rose over 5 km above the summit of the volcano. This was the first eruption on the volcano since 25 March, and the largest eruption since the current cycle of activity began at the beginning of March. Pyroclastic flows were observed on the southeast flank of the volcano, descending about 800 m from the its crater.

A five kilometre high ash column above Mount Shinmoedake, Japan, on 5 April 2018. Note the lightning in the upper part of the column; such strikes are common in large ash columns, which can build up considerable charge variations due to friction between particles, leading to frequent electrical discharges. Kyodo News.

Japan has a complex tectonic situation, with parts of the country on four different tectonic plates. Kyūshū Island lies at the northeast end of the Ryukyu Island Arc, which sits on top of the boundary between the Eurasian and Philippine Plates. The Philippine Plate is being subducted beneath the Eurasian Plate, in the Ryukyo Trench, to the Southeast of the Islands. As it is drawn into the interior of the Earth, the tectonic plate is partially melted by the heat of the Earth's interior, and liquid magma rises up through the overlying Eurasian Plate to form the volcanoes of the Ryukyu Islands and Kyūshū.

The movement of the Pacific and Philippine Plates beneath eastern Honshu. Laurent Jolivet/Institut des Sciences de la Terre d'Orléans/Sciences de la Terre et de l'Environnement.

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Further eruptions on Mount Shinmoedake.

The Japan Meteorological Agency has expanded the warning area around Mount Shinmoedake to 4 km, a 1421 m volcano that forms part of the Kirishima Volcanic Complex on southern Kyūshū Island, following two large explosions on Saturday 10 March 2018. The volcano erupted slightly before 2.00 am and again slightly before 4.30 am, throwing rocks up to 1800 m from its crater, and produced an ash column that rose to an altitude of about 4.5 km.

Eruption on Mount Shinmoedake on 10 March 2018. Asahi Shimbun.

Japan has a complex tectonic situation, with parts of the country on four different tectonic plates. Kyūshū Island lies at the northeast end of the Ryukyu Island Arc, which sits on top of the boundary between the Eurasian and Philippine Plates. The Philippine Plate is being subducted beneath the Eurasian Plate, in the Ryukyo Trench, to the Southeast of the Islands. As it is drawn into the interior of the Earth, the tectonic plate is partially melted by the heat of the Earth's interior, and liquid magma rises up through the overlying Eurasian Plate to form the volcanoes of the Ryukyu Islands and Kyūshū.

 

 The movement of the Pacific and Philippine Plates beneath eastern Honshu. Laurent Jolivet/Institut des Sciences de la Terre d'Orléans/Sciences de la Terre et de l'Environnement.

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Eruption on Mount Shinmoedake.

The Japan Meteorological Agency has reported an eruption on Mount Shinmoedake, a 1421 m volcano that forms part of the Kirishima Volcanic Complex on southern Kyūshū Island. The agency began to monitor small Earthquakes beneath the mountain at about 8.15 am Japan Standard Time on Thursday 1 March 2018 (seismic activity beneath volcanoes can be significant, as they are often caused by the arrival of fresh magma, which may indicate that a volcano is about to undergo an eruptive episode), which was followed by an eruption at about 11.00 am, which produced an ash column about 300 m high that caused ash-falls in the town of Takaharu, to the east of the volcano. This was followed by several more small eruptions on Thursday 1 and Friday 2 March.

An ash column over Mount Shinmoedake on Kyūshū Island on Thursday 1 March 2018. Kyodo News.

Japan has a complex tectonic situation, with parts of the country on four different tectonic plates. Kyūshū Island lies at the northeast end of the Ryukyu Island Arc, which sits on top of the boundary between the Eurasian and Philippine Plates. The Philippine Plate is being subducted beneath the Eurasian Plate, in the Ryukyo Trench, to the Southeast of the Islands. As it is drawn into the interior of the Earth, the tectonic plate is partially melted by the heat of the Earth's interior, and liquid magma rises up through the overlying Eurasian Plate to form the volcanoes of the Ryukyu Islands and Kyūshū.

The movement of the Pacific and Philippine Plates beneath eastern Honshu. Laurent Jolivet/Institut des Sciences de la Terre d'Orléans/Sciences de la Terre et de l'Environnement.

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Eruption on Mount Shinmoedake, Kyūshū Island, Japan.

Mount Shinmoedake, a part of the Kirishima Volcanic Complex on southern Kyūshū Island, began erupting slightly after 5.30 am Japan Standard Time on Wednesday 11 October 2017, for the first time since September 2011. The initial eruption only produced an ash column about 300 m high, but a later eruption, on Thursday 12 October, produced a column of that reached 1.7 km, and caused ashfalls in several neighbouring towns and cities. The events were not unexpected, as the Japan Meteorological Agency had been recording small earthquakes beneath the volcano since the begining of the month. Seismic activity beneath volcanoes can be significant, as they are often caused by the arrival of fresh magma, which may indicate that a volcano is about to undergo an eruptive episode.

 Small plume on Mount Shinmoedake on 11 October 2017. Tomoaki Ito/Kyodo News/AP.

Japan has a complex tectonic environment with four plates underlying parts of the Islands; in addition to the Pacific in the east and the Othorsk in the North, there are the Philipine Plate to the south and the Eurasian Plate to the West. Kyūshū Island lies at the northeast end of the Ryukyu Island Arc, which sits on top of the boundary between the Eurasian and Philippine Plates. The Philippine Plate is being subducted beneath the Eurasian Plate, in the Ryukyo Trench, to the Southeast of the Islands. This is not a smooth process, with the two plates continuously sticking together then breaking apart as the pressure builds up, leading to frequent Earthquakes in the region.

 The movement of the Pacific and Philippine Plates beneath eastern Honshu. Laurent Jolivet/Institut des Sciences de la Terre d'Orléans/Sciences de la Terre et de l'Environnement.

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