Volcanic activity along the western edge of the Pacific “Ring of Fire” gave rise to a small island in November 2013. Located in the Ogasawara Islands, the new islet sits about 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) south of Tokyo. The new island rose out of the sea during a volcanic eruption first reported on November 20, 2013. It is adjacent to Nishino-shima, the summit of a massive submarine volcano that last erupted and expanded in 1973–74. Captions and Image source: NASA / Earth Observatory
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An erupting volcanic island that is expanding off Japan could trigger a tsunami if its freshly-formed lava slopes collapse into the sea, scientists said…
“New” Pacific Island Consumes Its Neighbor, NASA / Earth Observatory (04-09-2014)
On March 30, 2014, the Operational Land Imager on the Landsat 8 satellite captured this image of Nishino-shima, which sits about 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) south of Tokyo in the Ogasawara (Bonin) Island chain (approximately 27°14’ North, 140°52’ East). The enlarged inset photo includes a white outline depicting the extent of the new island on December 30, 2013. Photo source: Japan Coast Guards.
In November 2013, a seafloor volcano in the western Pacific Ocean spewed enough material to rise above the water line. The new island, or “niijima” in Japanese, sprouted just 500 meters from Nishino-shima, another volcanic island that had last erupted and expanded in 1973–74.
Four months later, the new and the old are now one island, and the volcanic eruption shows no sign of abating. Captions and Image source: NASA / Earth Observatory
