Kurokami View Spot

There is a viewpoint with a small viewing platform. The Showa Crater can be seen in front. It is very powerful during eruptions, especially at night. Red-colored cinders, pyroelectric phenomena, and volcanic thunderstorms can be seen. However, since around 2017, eruptions have mainly occurred from the Summit Crater of Minamidake, and the Showa Crater has become almost inactive.

 

It was not until the late 1950s that the volcano began to erupt as frequently as it does today. At that time, it was from the Summit Crater. It was larger in scale than today's eruptions and huge cinders flew as far as residential areas, cracked the windows of airplanes flying over Sakurajima, and caused train crossings to malfunction due to the ash from the eruptions. However, the number of eruptions, which had been several hundred per year until then, decreased to a few times per year around 2004.

 

In 2006, the Showa Crater replaced the Summit Crater. The number of eruptions increased year by year, reaching a high of 996 in 2011. I was an elementary school student at the time, and I remember suffering from volcanic ash every day. However, the number of eruptions began to decline sharply in the second half of 2015, and it dropped to 13 eruptions in 2017. In recent years, with the resumption of activity at the Summit Crater, the number of eruptions has again increased to several hundred per year, but the Showa Crater hardly erupted.

 

I think that eruptions from the Summit Crater are bigger than those from the Showa Crater. Air shocks are also bigger. The air shock is shock waves caused by eruptions. Windows rattle and shake like during an earthquake. In the past, windows were sometimes broken by air shocks. Well, the size of the crater is different, the Summit Crater is far larger.

 

The area on the mountainside from the Kurokami View Spot is called Jigoku Gawara. The Kurokami River in the vicinity has a large amount of volcanic ash and cinders (mudslide reserve) accumulating upstream, so there is a possibility of a large mudslide.

 

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Note: All references to “eruptions” here refer to “explosive eruptions”. An explosive eruption is an eruption accompanied by an explosive sound, air tremors, and scattering of cinders above the standard level. Simply put, they are the larger ones of all eruptions. This is because it is difficult to record all eruptions on Sakurajima, including small ones.