Asosan
Japan · Caldera · 32.88, 131.09 · volcano number 282110
Alert level yellow, as of 7 November 2026.
Issued by Japan Meteorological Agency.
What this system is
| Type | Caldera |
|---|---|
| Country | Japan |
| Position | 32.88, 131.09 |
| Why it is on this list | named supereruption |
Recorded history
NOAA's hazard records hold 5 significant earthquakes and 16 significant eruptions at or within 40 km of this volcano since 1331.
The deadliest was the 15 April 2016 magnitude 7.0 earthquake (Japan: Kumamoto, Oita), which killed 273 people.
The most recent entry is the 8 October 2016 VEI 3 eruption (Asosan, Kyushu-Japan).
Across the entries that record a death toll, 330 people died.
| Date | What | Where | Toll |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15 April 2016 | magnitude 7.0 earthquake | Japan: Kumamoto, Oita | 273 dead, 43,386 homes destroyed, $20,000 million damage |
| 28 July 1889 | magnitude 6.3 earthquake | Japan: Kumamoto | 20 dead, 239 homes destroyed, damage under $1 million |
| October 1957 | VEI 2 eruption | Asosan, Kyushu-Japan | 12 dead |
| 27 April 1953 | VEI 2 eruption | Asosan, Kyushu-Japan | 6 dead |
| December 1872 | VEI 3 eruption | Asosan, Kyushu-Japan | 4 dead |
| 6 September 1979 | VEI 2 eruption | Asosan, Kyushu-Japan | 3 dead |
| February 1854 | VEI 2 eruption | Asosan, Kyushu-Japan | 3 dead |
| 23 November 1997 | eruption | Asosan, Kyushu-Japan | 2 dead |
| 19 October 1990 | VEI 2 eruption | Asosan, Kyushu-Japan | 1 dead |
| 18 April 1990 | VEI 2 eruption | Asosan, Kyushu-Japan | 1 dead |
| 26 March 1990 | VEI 2 eruption | Asosan, Kyushu-Japan | 1 dead |
| 5 July 1816 | VEI 2 eruption | Asosan, Kyushu-Japan | 1 dead |
| January 1485 | VEI 2 eruption | Asosan, Kyushu-Japan | 1 dead |
| 29 May 1994 | VEI 1 eruption | Asosan, Kyushu-Japan | 1 dead |
| 12 February 1989 | eruption | Asosan, Kyushu-Japan | 1 dead |
| 11 June 2006 | magnitude 6.3 earthquake | Japan: Kyushu | - |
| 20 April 1975 | magnitude 6.1 earthquake | Japan: Oita, Arosan | damage $5 to 25 million |
| 23 January 1975 | magnitude 5.8 earthquake | Japan: Arosan | damage $1 to 5 million |
| 8 October 2016 | VEI 3 eruption | Asosan, Kyushu-Japan | damage under $1 million |
| October 1826 | VEI 2 eruption | Asosan, Kyushu-Japan | - |
| December 1331 | VEI 2 eruption | Asosan, 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
Aso's caldera is roughly 25 km north to south and 18 km east to west, among the largest in the world, and the cones inside it are still active.
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.