Sakurajima Volcano, Japan
ASTER VNIR Level 1B : 2001/9/19

Sakurajima Volcano, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan

A subscene of an ASTER image showing an erupting Sakurajima Volcano, Japan, taken on September 19th, 2001.

Sakurajima is an active stratovolcano located in the center of Kagoshima Prefecture, southern Japan.
It sits in the Kagoshima Bay and very close to Kagoshima city where more than 540,000 people are living.

Formerly Sakurajima was an island, and it became a peninsula in 1914 when lava from its summit closed the channel between the island and Osumi Peninsula.

Sakurajima has been erupting quite constantly since its first recorded eruption in the historical age,
The current eruptive activities began in 1955 with hundreds of small eruptions each year.