Japan Celebrates the Spectacular Images of a Volcanic Island Being Born
Volcanic activity along the western edge of the Pacific “Ring of Fire” gave rise to a tiny island in late November 2013. Located in the Ogasawara Islands, Japan. Photo: NASA Earth Observatory satellite image by Robert Simmon.
A volcanic island located in the Pacific Ocean, far to the south of the Japanese main islands, has captured the attention of Japanese social media users for the past two years.
Nishinoshima (西之島) is located in the Ogasawara Islands, nearly 1,000 kilometers south of Tokyo. The island is actually the top of a massive undersea volcano that rises up 3,000 meters from the ocean floor.
Since November 2013, volcanic eruptions have joined the two islands, increasing the overall area by four times to 2.7 km². The eruptions have created a smoking cinder cone 110 meters above sea level.
The spectacular eruptions combined with the visible, rapid growth of the island has captured the imagination of the Japanese public.
A page devoted to Nishinoshima has generated more than 200,000 views and dozens of pages of updates on the Japanese social networking and meme aggregator site Matome Naver.
The eruptions over the past two years have provided some spectacular images.
From time to time, the media would report on the area’s spectacular images of volcanic eruptions. At one point, part of the coastline collapsed into the ocean, actually reducing the size of the island.
As of December 29, the surface of Nishinoshima consists of lava flows and a striking cinder cone. It’s anticipated the island will continue to grow in the years to come, although volcanic activity seems to be paused for the moment.
Read more: globalvoices.org
Written by Nevin Thompson
Gglobal Voices
