Alert at Sakurajima

Sakurajima Alert Raised To 5

Fukuleaks,
19 August, 2015


UPDATE: Volcanic gas found bubbling up in the water 5km from the volcano. Image of the eruptions below from FNN.

NHK is reporting that officials have raised the alert level around Sakurajima to level 5. They have urged those living near the two craters to evacuate. There were five volcanic earthquakes by 9am on the 19th, JST. They also observed swelling within the volcano. All of these are of course signs of concern but do happen on the volcano from time to time. Officials remain cautious and the volcano level is at the highest warning level. Yet those in charge of nuclear safety and the nearby Sendai nuclear plant continue to tempt fate.

First minor eruption at Mt. Sakurajima

Officials with Japan's Meteorological Agency say a very minor eruption has occurred at Mount Sakurajima in southwestern Japan.

They say the volcano in Kagoshima Prefecture was spewing smoke up to 500 meters high from its Showa crater around 3 AM on Wednesday.

It was the first eruption since the agency raised the alert on the volcano on Saturday to 4, on a scale of 5.

Sakurajima volcano (Japan): satellite radar measurments detect 16 cm inflation

Wednesday Aug 19, 2015 13:40 PM 

Inferometry map of Sakurajima showing large deformation (inflation) of the summit area

The most recent radar measurements done by ALOS-2 satellite of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) show that the summit of the volcano has inflated by the enormous amount of approx. 16 cm during the interval 4 Jan - 17 August this year.

This suggests that a significant batch of new magma is currently stored in the volcano's upper plumbing system and the question remains when and how it might erupt. While surface activity at the volcano has remained very calm, authorities continue to prepare for the possible scenario of a major eruption in the near future.