Sakura Island

Sakurajima
View of Sakurajima from mainland Kagoshima, 2009
Highest point
Elevation	1,117 m (3,665 ft)
Coordinates	31°35′N 130°39′E / 31.583°N 130.650°E / 31.583; 130.650Coordinates: 31°35′N 130°39′E / 31.583°N 130.650°E / 31.583; 130.650
Geography
Sakurajima Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan
Geology
Mountain type	composite volcano
Last eruption	1955 to present

Sakurajima (Japanese: 桜島, lit. "Cherry blossom Island") is an active composite volcano (stratovolcano) and a former island in Kagoshima Prefecture in Kyushu, Japan. The lava flows of the 1914 eruption caused the former island to be connected with the Osumi Peninsula.

The volcanic activity still continues, dropping large amounts of volcanic ash on the surroundings. Earlier eruptions built the white sands highlands in the region. The most recent eruption started on February 5, 2016. On September 13, 2016 a team of experts from Bristol University and the Sakurajima Volcano Research Centre in Japan suggested that the volcano could have a major eruption within 30 years.

Sakurajima is a stratosphereic-volcano. Its summit has three peaks, Kita-dake (northern peak), Naka-dake (central peak) and Minami-dake (southern peak) which is active now.

Kita-dake is Sakurajima's highest peak, rising to 1,117 m (3,665 ft) above sea level. The mountain is located in a part of Kagoshima Bay known as Kinkō-wan. The former island is part of the city of Kagoshima. The surface of this volcanic peninsula is about 77 km² (30 sq mi).

Sakurajima is located in the Aira caldera and formed in an enormous eruption 22,000 years ago. Several hundred cubic kilometres of ash and pumice were ejected, causing the magma chamber underneath the erupting vents to collapse. The resulting caldera is over 20 km (12 mi) across. Tephra fell as far as 1,000 km (620 mi) from the volcano. Sakurajima is a modern active vent of the same Aira caldera volcano.