A powerful volcanic eruption in the Pacific Ocean has created a new island off the coast of Japan.
The new island is 600ft in diameter and appeared next to a small, uninhabited island in the Pacific called Nishinoshima.
The
mass of rock was forced from the sea following an eruption on Wednesday
in a region dubbed Ring of Fire – a hub of seismic activity situated
620 miles south of Tokyo.
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Smoke billows from a new islet off the coast of
Nishinoshima, a small, uninhabited island in the Ogasawara chain off the
coats of Tokyo. The Japanese coastguard and earthquake experts said a
volcanic eruption raised the new island in to the seas on Wednesday. It
is around 600ft in diameter
THE NEW ISLAND IN PAKISTAN
In September a similar new island appeared off the coast of Pakistan.
It was forced to the surface following an earthquake and was made up a mound of mud and rock 70ft high and 295ft wide/
The
phenomenon on the coastline near the port of Gwadar caused astonishment
when it emerged from the Arabian Sea but, like the new islet in Japan,
experts said it was unlikely to last long.
Although the area regularly
experiences earthquakes and eruptions, they are rarely as powerful as
the one that happened earlier this week.
In fact, the forming of the new island is the first time the phenomenon has happened in almost 30 years.
Video footage showed smoke billowing from part of the ocean around the Ogasawara island chain on Wednesday afternoon.
The Japanese coastguard later confirmed it was coming from the new islet.
This chain is made up of over 30
subtropical and tropical islands.
The
islet is made up of volcanic lava and rocks forced from the ocean
floor. Volcanologists claim the temperature of the rocks could be as
high as 1,000°C.
The mass of rock, pictured, was forced from the
sea following an eruption on Wednesday in a region of the Pacific Ocean
dubbed Ring of Fire. This region is a hub of seismic activity in the
basin of the ocean and is often hit by earthquakes and volcanic
eruptions
The coastguard has warned
sailors to use caution in the area and avoid travelling near it until
the heat from the eruption cools off.
‘Smoke
is still rising from the volcanic island, and we issued a navigation
warning to say that this island has emerged with ash falling in the
area,’ said a spokesman for the maritime agency.
He
added that the islet may not last long due to erosion, but if enough
volcanic lava surfaces and solidifies it could create a new marker on
the map.
Similar eruptions in the early 1970s and 80s created tiny islets in Japan's territory that have since disappeared.
The new islet rose into the ocean near the Bonin
Islands, also known as the Ogasawara chain. This chain is made up of
over 30 subtropical and tropical islands around 620 miles south of the
Japanese capital, pictured
The islet, pictured, is made up of volcanic lava
and rocks forced from the ocean floor. Volcanologists claim the
temperature of the rocks could be as high as 1,000°C. The coastguard has
warned sailors to use caution in the area and avoid travelling near it
until the heat from the eruption cools off
‘If this becomes a solid island, our country's territorial waters will expand,’ Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said.
In September a similar new island appeared off the coast of Pakistan.
It was forced to the surface following an earthquake and was made up a mound of mud and rock 70ft high and 295ft wide.
The
phenomenon on the coastline near the port of Gwadar caused astonishment
when it emerged from the Arabian Sea but, like the new islet in Japan,
experts said it was unlikely to last long.
Similar eruptions in the early 1970s and 80s created tiny islets in Japan's territory that have since disappeared
Experts said the islet, pictured, may not last
long due to erosion, but if enough volcanic lava surfaces and solidifies
it could create a new islet a new entry on the map
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