Underwater volcano Fukutoku-Okanoba was captured erupting in 2010.
NASA
There’s some new real estate in the Pacific Ocean 745 miles south of Tokyo and not too far from Iwo Jima. To call this island escape a hot property is almost too literal, as it was just created thanks to an underwater volcanic eruption.
Japan’s Coast Guard reported explosive volcanic activity in the region last week, including a plume of steam and gas rising from the ocean to altitudes over 15 kilometers.
Later observations showed the emergence of a new broken horseshoe-shape island. The below video shows lava hardening in place.
The new land mass is actually the top of a massive submerged volcano named Fukutoku-Okanoba poking its conical head above the water within just a few miles of South Iwo Jima.
The underwater volcano is thought to have erupted numerous times in the past, most recently in 2010. A 1986 eruption also formed a new island at the site.
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