Skip to main content

Kuchinoshima

Stratovolcano · Japan · 628m

The center peak is the Maedake lava dome that rises above the E coast of Kuchinoshima and forms the high point of the island. The flat-topped Yokodake peak is to the upper right. Kuchinoshima lies in the northern Ryukyu Islands between the volcanic islands of Nakanoshima and Kuchinoerabujima.
The center peak is the Maedake lava dome that rises above the E coast of Kuchinoshima and forms the high point of the island. The flat-topped Yokodake peak is to the upper right. Kuchinoshima lies in the northern Ryukyu Islands between the volcanic islands of Nakanoshima and Kuchinoerabujima. · Photo: Copyrighted photo by Shun Nakano, 2005 (Japanese Quaternary Volcanoes database, RIODB, http://riodb02.ibase.aist.go.jp/strata/VOL_JP/EN/index.htm and Geol Surv Japan, AIST, http://www.gsj.jp/). · Wikimedia Commons
Type
Stratovolcano
Country
Japan
Region
Western Pacific / Ryukyu Volcanic Arc
Elevation
628m
Coordinates
29.968, 129.926
Last eruption
1190
Tectonic setting
Subduction zone / Oceanic crust (< 15 km)
Landform
Composite
Major rock type
Andesite / Basaltic Andesite
Geological summary

Kuchinoshima, lying in the northern Ryukyu Islands between the volcanic islands of Nakanoshima and Kuchinoerabujima, consists of two andesitic stratovolcanoes and a NW-SE-trending chain of lava domes. Two small villages, Nishinohama and Kuchinoshima, lie at the northern end of the mostly uninhabited island. The compound 628-m-high Maedake lava dome, forming the highest point on the 3 x 7 km wide island, was constructed east of the summit of 501-m-high Yokodake stratovolcano. The last magmatic eruption took place about 1200-1300 years ago.

Eruption history

Summary (VEI over time)
Click a bar to see individual eruptions
6750 BCE~6485 BCE · 1 eruptions · max VEI ?927 BCE~663 BCE · 1 eruptions · max VEI ?661~925 · 1 eruptions · max VEI ?925~1190 · 1 eruptions · max VEI ?6750 BCE4897 BCE2780 BCE927 BCE925

Detailed timeline

  1. 1190 (±40 yrs)VEI ?Geological estimate
    1190 – Ongoing
  2. 750 (±50 yrs)VEI ?Geological estimate
    750 – Ongoing
  3. 900 BCEVEI ?Geological estimate
    BCE 900 – Ongoing
  4. 6750 BCE (±50 yrs)VEI ?Geological estimate
    BCE 6750 – Ongoing
    Yoko-dake, Mae-dake

External links

⚠ For reference only. Not for emergency response.