The new island born off the coast of Japan is growing, resisting sea erosion

Its name is Niijima, and it has been nicknamed “the island that is not there.”We are talking about the pretty islet south of Iwo Jima, Japan, following the eruption of an underwater volcano. The eruption dates back to last October 21, when the underwater volcano began to erupt, forming the islet in question within just a week, without creating any damage.

The site of the eruption, 1,200 kilometres south of Tokyo, is known for some underwater volcanic activity, being part of the Ogasawara Islands chain in the western Pacific.

An area characterised by strong volcanic activity

The eruption of these weeks indicates how volcanic activity has intensified further in the area. The new island could enlarge and change shape if the eruptions continued, but it could also disappear under the waves, as was already the case with those that had been created in the area in 1904, 1914 and 1986, a direct consequence of erosion.

A bit like our Fedinandea Island, which once it was born was eroded by the incessant action of motion, along the Channel of Sicily, one of the windiest seas in the entire Mediterranean.

More and more islands around Japan

Since the last census of geographers, dating back to early 2023, Japan has seen its number of islands double compared to previously known data of four archipelagos and about 6 thousand islands.

Using digital mapping technology, the National Information Authority identified a total of 14,125 islands, 7,273 more than previously thought. A number, however, will increase further in the coming decades.

Attention remains high even in Italy and Indonesia

We know very well that volcanic eruptions can change the physical geography of the earth at least in a local key. What is happening in Japan, in fact, brings attention to what is happening, for example, in Italy, in the area of the supervolcano Campi Flegrei, whose volcanic activity and its bradyshism are constantly evolving.

The last significant eruption is true that it dates back to 1538 and, despite being among the minors in the entire eructive history of the Campi Flegrei, it interrupted a period of quiescence of about 3000 years.

But within a few days, it gave rise to the cone of Monte Nuovo, about 130 metres high. But in addition to Japan and Italy, where Etna is also active in recent weeks, other volcanoes seem to have returned to full activity.

In Indonesia, Mount Marapi on the island of Sumatra, one of the 130 active volcanoes present in Indonesia, has been erupting since December 4, projecting a gray column of ash 3 kilometres high beyond its peak of 2,891 metres. This activity of his has, unfortunately, already caused 23 deaths.

It is forbidden to approach the volcano and the eruption alarm sent by the Indonesia Institute of Volcanology is level 3 on a scale of 4. People who work in the vicinity of Mount Marapi are asked to wear glasses, masks and hats. The ash mixed with rain fell on the city of Bukittinggi, the third largest in Sumatra with about 100,000 inhabitants.