JMA reported that the seismic network for Suwanosejima's Ontake Crater detected a total of 17 explosions during 19-26 March. These events produced eruption plumes that rose as high as 1.2 km above the crater rim, drifting S, W, and SW, and ejected bombs as far as 500 m away from the crater. Incandescence from the crater was occasionally visible at night. On 30 March at least 18 explosions were detected, generating ash plumes that rose 600-1,500 m above the crater drifting E, SE, and NE and ejecting material as far as 800 m S of the crater. On 31 March the Alert Level was raised to 3 (on a 5-level scale).

Geological Summary. The 8-km-long island of Suwanosejima in the northern Ryukyu Islands consists of an andesitic stratovolcano with two active summit craters. The summit is truncated by a large breached crater extending to the sea on the E flank that was formed by edifice collapse. One of Japan's most frequently active volcanoes, it was in a state of intermittent Strombolian activity from Otake, the NE summit crater, between 1949 and 1996, after which periods of inactivity lengthened. The largest recorded eruption took place in 1813-14, when thick scoria deposits covered residential areas, and the SW crater produced two lava flows that reached the western coast. At the end of the eruption the summit of Otake collapsed, forming a large debris avalanche and creating an open collapse scarp extending to the eastern coast. The island remained uninhabited for about 70 years after the 1813-1814 eruption. Lava flows reached the eastern coast of the island in 1884. Only about 50 people live on the island.

Source: Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA)