page_title: Sakurajima
section_title: Recent activity
hierarchical_section_title: Sakurajima / History / Recent activity
caption_attribution_description: Sakurajima eruption as seen on August 18, 2013
context_page_description: Sakurajima is an active stratovolcano, formerly an island and now a peninsula, in Kagoshima Prefecture in Kyushu, Japan. The lava flows of the 1914 eruption connected it with the Ōsumi Peninsula. It is the most active volcano in Japan.
  The volcanic activity still continues, dropping volcanic ash on the surroundings, which continues as of March 2019. Earlier eruptions built the white sand highlands in the region. The most recent eruption started on November 12, 2019. On September 13, 2016 a team of experts from Bristol University and the Sakurajima Volcano Research Centre in Japan suggested that the volcano could have a major eruption within 30 years; since then two eruptions have occurred.
  Sakurajima is a stratovolcano. Its summit has three peaks, Kita-dake, Naka-dake and Minami-dake which is active now.
  Kita-dake is Sakurajima's highest peak, rising to 1,117 m above sea level. The mountain is in a part of Kagoshima Bay known as Kinkō-wan. The former island is part of the city of Kagoshima. The surface of this volcanic peninsula is about 77 km².
context_section_description: Sakurajima's activity became more prominent in 1955, and the volcano has been erupting almost constantly ever since.  Thousands of small explosions happen each year, throwing ash to heights of up to a few kilometers above the mountain. The Sakurajima Volcano Observatory was set up in 1960 to monitor these eruptions.
  Monitoring of the volcano and predictions of large eruptions are particularly important because it is in a densely populated area, with the city of Kagoshima's 680,000 residents just a few kilometers from the volcano. The city conducts regular evacuation drills, and a number of shelters have been built where people can take refuge from falling volcanic debris.
  In light of the dangers it presents to nearby populations, Sakurajima was designated a Decade Volcano in 1991, identifying it as worthy of particular study as part of the United Nations' International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction.
  Sakurajima is part of the Kirishima-Yaku National Park, and its lava flows are a major tourist attraction. The area around Sakurajima contains several hot spring resorts. One of the main agricultural products of Sakurajima is a huge basketball-sized white radish (Sakurajima daikon).
  On 10 March 2009, Sakurajima erupted, sending debris up to 2 km (1.2 mi). An eruption had been expected following a series of smaller explosions over the weekend.  It is not thought there was any damage caused.
  In 2011 and 2012, Sakurajima experienced several significant eruptions; volcanic activity continued into 2013.
  Photographer Martin Rietze captured a rare picture of lightning within the ash plume in January 2013 during a magma ejection, which was a NASA astronomy pic of the day in March 2013.
  On 18 August 2013, the volcano erupted from Showa crater and produced its highest recorded plume of ash since 2006, rising 5,000 metres high and causing darkness and significant ash falls on the central part of Kagoshima city. The eruption occurred at 16:31 and was the 500th eruption of the year.
  In August 2015, Japan's meteorological agency issued a level 4 emergency warning, which urges residents to prepare to evacuate.
  Scientists warned that a major eruption could soon take place at the volcano; it eventually did erupt around 20:00 on 5 February 2016.
  After a long pause of eruptions at the vent, the eruptions abruptly stopped there and returned to the Showa crater, on April 4, 2016, some 8–9 days preceding major earthquakes on the Median Tectonic Line near Kumamoto, Japan. Then, three months later, on July 26, it spewed volcanic ash 5,000 m (16,000 ft) into the air.
  The last eruption was on November 12, 2019.
  An eruption occurred from the Minami-dake summit crater at 5:38 on Sunday, August 9th, 2010, sending debris up to 5000 m (16,000 ft).
caption: Sakura-jima eruption as seen on August 18, 2013
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