Sakurajima

1914 eruption

The 1914 eruption was particularly powerful, and during the eruption lava flows filled in the narrow strait between the island and the mainland, converting it into a peninsula. Before 1914, the volcano had been dormant for over a century.

Related Topics:
Lava flow - Strait - Peninsula - Century

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The eruption began on January 11 1914. Almost all residents had left the island in the previous days, in response to several large earthquakes which warned them that an eruption was imminent. Initially, the eruption had been very explosive, generating eruption columns and pyroclastic flows, but after a very large earthquake on January 13 which killed 35 people, it became effusive, generating a large lava flow.

Related Topics:
January 11 - 1914 - Earthquake - Eruption column - Pyroclastic flow - January 13

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Lava flows are rare in Japan - the high silica content of the magmas there mean that explosive eruptions are far more common. But the lava flows at Sakurajima continued for months. The island grew, engulfing several smaller islands nearby, and eventually becoming connected to the mainland by a narrow isthmus. Parts of Kagoshima Bay were significantly shallowed, and tides were affected, becoming higher as a result.

Related Topics:
Silica - Magma - Isthmus - Kagoshima Bay - Tide

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During the final stages of the eruption, the centre of the Aira Caldera sank by about two feet, due to subsidence caused by the emptying out of the underlying magma chamber. The fact that the subsidence occurred at the centre of the caldera rather than directly underneath Sakurajima showed that the volcano draws its magma from the same reservoir that fed the ancient caldera-forming eruption.

Related Topics:
Subsidence - Reservoir

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