Mt. Shindake and Mt. Furudake

Kuchinoerabujima is a volcanic island in the Satsunan archipelago where Mt. Shindake and Mt. Furudake remain active, with a steam plume rising continuously above the landscape. The volcanoes formed underwater around 500,000 years ago, and the 1933 to 1934 eruptions were powerful enough to destroy a village 1.7 kilometers from the crater. The 2015 eruption of Mt. Shindake sent ash 9,000 meters skyward, forcing a full island evacuation to Yakushima lasting nearly half a year. Since then, an on-island evacuation shelter and heliport have been built so residents no longer need to leave the island during future eruptions. Hot water seeps from the ground at beaches and appears as bubbles on the seabed.