A volcanic eruption has raised an island in the seas to the far south of Tokyo, Japan.
Advisories from the coast guard and the Japan Meteorological Agency said the islet is about 200 meters (660 feet) in diameter. It is just off the coast of Nishinoshima, a small, uninhabited island in the Ogasawara chain, which is also known as the Bonin Islands.
A volcanologist with the coast guard told that it was possible the new island might be eroded away. “But it also could remain permanently,” he said.
The last time the volcanos in the area are known to have erupted was in the mid-1970s. Much of the volcanic activity occurs under the sea.
