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Tori-shima

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  • Country
  • Subregion Name
  • Volcano Type
  • Last Known Eruption
  • 394 m
    1292 ft
  • 30.480°
  • 140.306°
  • Elevation
  •  
  • Latitude
  • Longitude

21 August-27 August 2002

An eruption began at Tori-shima on 11 August and an aerial inspection by the Japan Coast Guard on 21 August revealed that "smoke" was no longer rising from the volcano as it had been on the 14th. Weak steaming was visible in the southern part of the crater. In addition, the sea surface around the island was faintly discolored.

Sources: Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) via the Volcano Research Center



 Available Weekly Reports




2002: August |

21 August 2002              Back to Top

An eruption began at Tori-shima on 11 August and an aerial inspection by the Japan Coast Guard on 21 August revealed that "smoke" was no longer rising from the volcano as it had been on the 14th. Weak steaming was visible in the southern part of the crater. In addition, the sea surface around the island was faintly discolored.

Sources: Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) via the Volcano Research Center

14 August 2002              Back to Top

The eruption that began at Tori-shima on 11 August continued until at least noon on the 14th. Eruption clouds reached ~1.2 km a.s.l. on the 13th and ~1 km a.s.l. on the 14th. During observations on the 14th, scientists found smoke was being emitted from three areas on the western inner wall of the summit crater. They also found that the crater seemed to have widened during the eruption and the sea surface was no longer discolored.

Sources: Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) via the Volcano Research Center

7 August 2002              Back to Top

On 11 August around 1530 a ship sailing near Tori-shima reported to the Japan Coast Guard that they observed white smoke rising from the summit of the volcano. JMA reported that an aerial inspection the following day during 1145-1245 revealed an ash-laden plume rising from the SW crater wall of the summit crater (Iwoyama) and white plumes emanating from the S to SE portion of the crater wall. Vigorous ash plumes rose 200-300 m above the crater every few minutes, drifted W, and ultimately reached a height of 1 km a.s.l. The summit area and the middle slope NNW of the summit were covered with ash-fall deposits. Discolored sea water extended 20 km W of the island. Tori-shima is not inhabited by humans, but an endangered albatross species lives there.

Sources: Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) via the Volcano Research Center , Associated Press , Reuters , NOAA Marine Forecasts



Summary of eruption dates and Volcanic Explosivity Indices (VEI).

Start Date Stop Date Eruption Certainty VEI Evidence Activity Area or Unit
2002 Aug 12 2002 Aug 20 Confirmed 2 Historical Iwo-yama
1975 Oct 2 Unknown Confirmed 2 Historical 9 km S of Torishima
1965 Nov 13 1965 Dec 5 ± 4 days Confirmed 0 Hydrophonic
1939 Aug 17 1939 Dec 26 ± 5 days Confirmed 3 Historical North side of 1902 crater (Iwo-yama)
1902 Aug 7 1902 Aug 24 Confirmed 3 Historical Komochi-yama, N & SW offshore flanks
1871 Apr Unknown Confirmed 0 Historical

The circular, 2.7-km-wide island of Tori-shima in the southern Izu Islands is capped by an unvegetated summit cone formed during an eruption in 1939. Fresh lava flows from this eruption form part of the northern coastline of the basaltic-to-dacitic edifice. The volcano is also referred to as Izu-Tori-shima to distinguish it from the several other Japanese island volcanoes called Tori-shima ("Bird Island"). The main cone is truncated by a 1.5-km-wide caldera that contains two central cones, of which 394-m-high Iwo-yama is the highest. Historical eruptions have also occurred from flank vents near the north coast and offshore submarine vents. A 6-8 km wide submarine caldera lies immediately to the north of Tori-shima.