Catalog record
These fields are copied from the Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program Holocene volcano snapshot stored on this site. The file was fetched 2026-09-19T12:21:44Z. It is a location catalog, not a live alert.
- Catalog name
- Aira
- GVP number
- 282080
- Country
- Japan
- Type
- Caldera
- Elevation
- 1,117 m
- Region
- Western Pacific Volcanic Regions
- Subregion
- Ryukyu Volcanic Arc
- Tectonic setting
- Subduction zone / Continental crust (> 25 km)
- Last-eruption year
- 2026
- Evidence code
- Eruption Observed
- Latitude, longitude
- 31.5772, 130.6589
Elevation rank in the Ryukyu Volcanic Arc in this snapshot: 3 of 15. Rank is by the listed elevation only. It is not a hazard ranking.
How to read the last-eruption year
The year is a catalog field. A recent year means the snapshot recorded activity in that year. It is not an alert level, a size, or a statement about what happens next. Evidence codes in this file include “Eruption Observed” and “Eruption Dated.” Those are Smithsonian categories for how the eruption year was established, not a forecast flag.
Setting
Aira is a caldera in the Ryukyu Volcanic Arc. The snapshot elevation is 1,117 m and the last-eruption year is 2026. A year that recent means the fetched catalog recorded activity in 2026. It does not say how large those events were, and it is not an alert level from the Japan Meteorological Agency.
Sakurajima is the name commonly used for the active cone of this caldera system. Fujisan, elsewhere in Japan in this file, is a much higher stratovolcano whose last catalog year is 1708. Same country file, different arcs, different year codes. Neither year is a forecast.
Inside these documented rectangles: Japan / Ryukyu. The rectangles are documented on the About page. They are a lat/lon belt, not an official plate polygon.
Other volcanoes in this subregion
Highest listed elevations in the Ryukyu Volcanic Arc in this snapshot, excluding this volcano when it is already first:
- Kirishimayama, 1,700 m, last-eruption year 2025.
- Tatun Volcanic Group, 1,120 m, last-eruption year 648.
- Nakanoshima, 979 m, last-eruption year 1914.
Distance to published great-earthquake epicenters
The distances below use this volcano’s catalog coordinates and epicenters from the USGS list of the 20 largest earthquakes since 1900. They are spherical distances to points, not distances to a fault trace, and not a hazard score.
- 2011 M9.1 Tohoku, Japan (2011-03-11 05:46 UTC) — 1,301 km from the catalog point.
- 1933 M8.4 Sanriku, Japan (1933-03-02 17:31 UTC) — 1,519 km from the catalog point.
- 1963 M8.5 Kuril Islands (1963-10-13 05:18 UTC) — 2,201 km from the catalog point.
You can repeat the measurement for any coordinates on the distance to fault references tool.
What this page will not tell you
It will not tell you the next eruption time, the next earthquake on the neighboring trench, or an evacuation route. For U.S. volcano notices, use the USGS Volcano Hazards Program. For earthquakes, use the USGS event pages linked from Live Quakes. This site’s volcano map only draws the Holocene catalog.