Report on Asamayama (Japan) — October 1990
Bulletin of the Global Volcanism Network, vol. 15, no. 10 (October 1990)
Managing Editor: Lindsay McClelland.
Asamayama (Japan) Seismicity declines slightly
Please cite this report as:
Global Volcanism Program, 1990. Report on Asamayama (Japan). In: McClelland, L. (ed.), Bulletin of the Global Volcanism Network, 15:10. Smithsonian Institution. https://doi.org/10.5479/si.GVP.BGVN199010-283110.
36.406°N, 138.523°E; summit elev. 2568 m
All times are local (unless otherwise noted)
High seismicity . . . continued through October, but declined slightly from previous months. A monthly total of 105 earthquakes and 19 tremor episodes were recorded, declining from 206 and 24 respectively in September. Seismicity was continuing to decline as of 14 November.
Geologic Background. Asamayama, Honshu's most active volcano, overlooks the resort town of Karuizawa, 140 km NW of Tokyo. The volcano is located at the junction of the Izu-Marianas and NE Japan volcanic arcs. The modern Maekake cone forms the summit and is situated east of the horseshoe-shaped remnant of an older andesitic volcano, Kurofuyama, which was destroyed by a late-Pleistocene landslide about 20,000 years before present (BP). Growth of a dacitic shield volcano was accompanied by pumiceous pyroclastic flows, the largest of which occurred about 14,000-11,000 BP, and by growth of the Ko-Asama-yama lava dome on the east flank. Maekake, capped by the Kamayama pyroclastic cone that forms the present summit, is probably only a few thousand years old and has an historical record dating back at least to the 11th century CE. Maekake has had several major plinian eruptions, the last two of which occurred in 1108 (Asamayama's largest Holocene eruption) and 1783 CE.
Information Contacts: JMA.