Japanese Archipelago adds crescent-shaped island post volcanic eruption; vessels on alert

Volcanic eruptions bring destruction to mankind, however, the contrary is the case here in Japan after a new island popped out naturally of the Pacific Ocean, nearly 1,200 km (745 miles) south of Tokyo, experts said. The most neighbouring island to the new landmass is the Minami Loto, around 50 km away.

Observed & discovered by Japanese coast guard

According to a report by a Japanese newspaper, Mainichi Shimbun, the volcanic eruption was observed by the Japanese coast guard initially from the air and was later discovered by them. The Japanese archipelago spans across a total of 6852 islands covering 3,77,975 square kilometres, however with this new inclusion the figures may soon change. The Japanese coast guard has informed that the new island is crescent-shaped and has a diameter of about 1km. 

Japan Meteorological Agency calls attention to nearby vessels 

On Monday, the Japan Meteorological Agency had released a statement stating that the submarine volcano Fukutoku-Okanoba had continued erupting with an explosion spotted last week, on Friday. The Agency has released a statement calling attention to nearby vessels to keep a check on pumice stones and other material that were flowing up to 60km in the northwest direction while volcanic bombs and horizontal eruptions were affecting the water surrounding the volcano. It also informed that active eruption is expected to continue as a huge amount of smoke and large ash deposits in the surrounding water. 

Similar instances witnessed earlier 

However, this is not the first time, an island has erupted around the archipelago, as similar instances were witnessed in 1904, 1914, and 1986, unfortunately, all of them have submerged again inside the ocean, thanks to soil abrasion. The last major volcanic eruption that rocked Japan was Mount Ontake (Ontake-san) that took place on September 27, 2014; killing 63 people. 

Mount Ontake is a volcano located on the Japanese island of Honshu around 100 kilometres (62 mi) northeast of Nagoya and around 200 km (120 mi) west of Tokyo. It was Japan's first fatal volcanic eruption since the 1991 eruption at Mount Unzen, and the deadliest volcanic eruption in Japan's Torishima that killed an estimated 150 people in 1902.

(Image Credits: AP)