The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) reported that the number of shallow volcanic earthquakes at Kuchinoerabujima began to decline in July and remained low. Visits to the volcano on 7 and 9 September confirmed no notable changes to hydrothermal fields in and around Furudake Crater and Shindake Crater (just N of Furudake) and no emissions were visible. The Alert Level was lowered to 1 (on a scale of 1-5) at 1100 on 19 September.

Geological Summary. A group of young stratovolcanoes forms the eastern end of the irregularly shaped island of Kuchinoerabujima in the northern Ryukyu Islands, 15 km W of Yakushima. The Furudake, Shindake, and Noikeyama cones were erupted from south to north, respectively, forming a composite cone with multiple craters. All historical eruptions have occurred from Shindake, although a lava flow from the S flank of Furudake that reached the coast has a very fresh morphology. Frequent explosive eruptions have taken place from Shindake since 1840; the largest of these was in December 1933. Several villages on the 4 x 12 km island are located within a few kilometers of the active crater and have suffered damage from eruptions.

Source: Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA)