Japan recognizes new land formed by undersea eruption off Iwo Jima
The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) and the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan acknowledged a new island formed by an eruption off Ioto Island (Iwo Jima) in the Ogasawara Islands at a regular monthly news conference on earthquakes and volcanoes on Nov. 9.
A crater erupts to the south of Ioto Island in Ogasawara, Tokyo, on Oct. 30, 2023
The size of the new land mass, located about 1 kilometer off Ioto, is around 300 meters from north to south at its longest point. This is about three times its size on Oct. 30, when aerial photos were taken from a Mainichi Shimbun aircraft.
According to the JMA, the eruption was initially seen on the sea’s surface, but now the volcano is erupting from the land area formed by the accumulation of cinders in the surrounding area. The number of eruptions accompanied by ejecta has been decreasing, but white plumes were still rising on Nov. 9.
Meanwhile, the shape of the new island has been changing daily due to wave erosion. As to whether the land will continue to exist in the future, a JMA official said, “If only a cinder eruption, as it is now, it will be eroded by waves and is unlikely to remain for a long time, but if it turns into an eruption with lava, it may remain for quite a while.”
A crater erupts off the south side of Ioto Island in Ogasawara, Tokyo, on Oct. 30, 2023, as seen in this photo taken from a Mainichi Shimbun aircraft. The eruption has created an island like land mass. (Mainichi/Koichiro Tezuka)
The JMA also announced that pumice collected in late October near Torishima Island, part of the Izu Islands, “can be considered to have been produced by recent volcanic activity.” The agency said it is unclear if the pumice is related to the tsunami caused by the earthquake that struck the area near Torishima Island in early October.
