Sakura-jima, Japan

Sakura-jima, one of Japan's most active volcanoes, is a post-caldera cone of the Aira caldera at the northern half of Kagoshima Bay. Eruption of the voluminous Ito pyroclastic flow accompanied formation of the 17 x 23 km wide Aira caldera about 22,000 years ago. The smaller Wakamiko caldera was formed during the early Holocene in the NE corner of the Aira caldera, along with several post-caldera cones. The construction of Sakura-jima began about 13,000 years ago on the southern rim of Aira caldera and built an island that was finally joined to the Osumi Peninsula during the major explosive and effusive eruption of 1914. Activity at the Kita-dake summit cone ended about 4850 years ago, after which eruptions took place at Minami-dake. Frequent historical eruptions, recorded since the 8th century, have deposited ash on Kagoshima, one of Kyushu's largest cities, located across Kagoshima Bay only 8 km from the summit. The largest historical eruption took place during 1471-76.

Sumiyoshi-ike and Yonemaru are two basaltic maars formed in coastal lowland deposits north of the Aira caldera. The eruptions occurred during a period of rising sea level at the beginning of the Holocene. The 500-m-wide Sumiyoshi-ike maar was created about 7000 years ago. The larger, 1.2-km-wide Yonemaru maar erupted about 2 km west of Sumiyoshi-ike about 6500 years ago and produced pyroclastic surges that traveled 4 km from the vent.