Aira
Japan · Caldera · 31.58, 130.66 · volcano number 282080
Alert level orange, as of 7 November 2026.
Issued by Japan Meteorological Agency.
What this system is
| Type | Caldera |
|---|---|
| Country | Japan |
| Position | 31.58, 130.66 |
| Why it is on this list | named supereruption |
Recorded history
NOAA's hazard records hold 2 significant earthquakes and 15 significant eruptions at or within 40 km of this volcano since 764.
The deadliest was the 8 November 1779 VEI 4 eruption (Aira, Kyushu-Japan), which killed 153 people.
The strongest earthquake on record here was magnitude 7.1, on 12 January 1914 (Japan: Sakurijima).
The most recent entry is the 4 September 2013 eruption (Aira, Kyushu-Japan).
Across the entries that record a death toll, 406 people died.
| Date | What | Where | Toll |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 November 1779 | VEI 4 eruption | Aira, Kyushu-Japan | 153 dead |
| 764 | VEI 4 eruption | Aira, Kyushu-Japan | 80 dead |
| 12 January 1914 | magnitude 7.1 earthquake | Japan: Sakurijima | 63 dead, 2,268 homes destroyed, $19 million damage |
| 12 January 1914 | VEI 4 eruption | Aira, Kyushu-Japan | 63 dead, 2,268 homes destroyed, $19 million damage |
| 11 April 1781 | VEI 4 eruption | Aira, Kyushu-Japan | 38 dead, damage under $1 million |
| 9 August 1974 | VEI 3 eruption | Aira, Kyushu-Japan | 5 dead |
| 17 June 1974 | VEI 3 eruption | Aira, Kyushu-Japan | 3 dead |
| January 1946 | VEI 2 eruption | Aira, Kyushu-Japan | 1 dead |
| 3 November 1471 | VEI 5 eruption | Aira, Kyushu-Japan | - |
| 20 July 766 | magnitude 6.5 earthquake | Japan: N. Kagoshima Bay | - |
| 9 September 1780 | VEI 4 eruption | Aira, Kyushu-Japan | damage $1 to 5 million |
| 9 February 1780 | VEI 4 eruption | Aira, Kyushu-Japan | - |
| 13 October 1955 | VEI 3 eruption | Aira, Kyushu-Japan | - |
| 20 July 766 | VEI 3 eruption | Aira, Kyushu-Japan | - |
| 1797 | VEI 2 eruption | Aira, Kyushu-Japan | - |
| 4 September 2013 | eruption | Aira, Kyushu-Japan | damage under $1 million |
| 31 October 1780 | eruption | Aira, Kyushu-Japan | - |
A dash means NOAA recorded no number, not that nobody died. Older entries are fewer because fewer were written down, not because less happened.
Recorded history: NOAA NCEI hazard databases, public domain, retrieved 2026-10-22.
What this rests on
The caldera at the head of Kagoshima Bay formed about 30,000 years ago in a succession of pyroclastic eruptions, and Sakurajima, the cone that grew on its rim, has been one of Japan's most active volcanoes ever since.
That sentence is ours. A fuller account, with its own citations, is where to check it. It was a quotation from the Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program until September 2026, when their terms stopped being compatible with a site carrying advertising.
Who watches it
Japan Meteorological Agency monitors this system and publishes its alert level. https://www.jma.go.jp/bosai/map.html#contents=volcano
In an eruption, that observatory is the authority. This page follows it; it does not compete with it.
Other systems tracked
Where these numbers come from
National Geophysical Data Center / World Data Service (NGDC/WDS): NCEI/WDS Global Significant Volcanic Eruptions Database. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. doi:10.7289/V5JW8BSH Licence: NOAA NCEI: access to this dataset is unrestricted (US federal work, public domain). Positions and eruption records come from that database; the sentence above is ours. Alert levels come from the publishing observatory.