Huge smoke column rising from the sea

A volcano in the Japanese seabed woke up, creating a column of dust and smoke as high as a 30-storey building on the water. Scientists predict that this eruption could create a new island.

Fukutoku-Okanoba volcano in the bottom of the Japanese sea erupts causing dust and smoke to rise from the water. The location of the volcano is about 1,192 km south of Tokyo. A helicopter of the Coast Guard captured this scene when patrolling on February 3. The Japan Meteorological Agency said that no one predicted the eruption of the volcano.

Some waters above the volcano turn greenish-yellow, while some other waters are cloudy with sand and gravel rising from the volcano. The most recent eruption of Fukutoku-Okanoba volcano occurred in July 2005.

The eruption site is about 4.8 km from Iwo Jima Island. During the previous eruptions of Fukutoku-Okanoba volcano, lava escaped from the seabed and created islands. But those islands were quickly flattened.

Scientists believe that Fukutoku-Okanoba volcano has erupted 7 times since 1904, including three creating islands. Soon after forming the islands it quickly disappeared. On January 18, 1986, volcanoes erupted and created an island. This island existed until March 8 of the same year.

A Japanese Coast Guard vessel is monitoring volcanic developments, but they always keep a safe distance because there are many toxic gases - like CO ₂ , SO ₂ - escaping from volcanoes.