Suwanosejima

 

Suwanosejima is one of Japan’s and world’s most active volcanoes. The 796m high volcano has been in a state of almost-continuous strombolian eruption since 1949. After its largest historical eruption that took place in 1813 to 1814, the island remained uninhabited for about 70 years.

Location:	East China Sea, Japan
Coordinates:	29.648059, 129.707926
Volcano Type:	Stratovolcano

 

Suwanosejima’s Location

 

Suwanosejima’s Latest Status

2026: Alert Level 2 following several pulses of increased tremor and explosions in January.

 

Suwanosejima’s Eruptive History

1889	VEI=4 eruption
1970’s	Ongoing eruptive and strombolian activity. 1979 saw a series of eruptions that rocked buildings almost 100km away.
1980’s	Vigorous explosive activity with ash plumes rising to 3000m.
1990’s	Eruptions continue. One eruption created ash falls over 100km away.
2000-2010	A significant eruption (VEI=3) occurred on Dec, 2000.
2017	Frequent eruptions continue with strong strombolian eruptions.
2018	Eruptions with incandescence present.
2020	More frequent eruptions with incandescence.
2021	Frequent eruptions continue with summit incandescence and ash plumes to 2000m.
2023	Eruptions continue, with ash plumes rising to 2km and blocks ejected to 300m
2024	Alert Level 4. Regular eruptions continue at the Ontake Crater.
2025	Near-constant Strombolian activity and ash emissions throughout the year.

 

Suwanosejima Monitoring

For monitoring of Japan’s Volcanoes, please refer to JMA.

 

Suwanosejima Images