JAPAN: Sakurajima Volcano Has Been Very Active Recently. Large Earthquakes Correlate With Vulcanian-Type Explosions From This Location And Chile. Ring Of Fire.

Dutchsinse writes: April 21, 2015 : Yet another large eruption has occurred at Sakurajima volcano in South Japan.

Sakurajima volcano is like an gauge or a meter which lets us know seismic activity is picking up in the Pacific.

Each time we see Sakurajima volcano experience a series of large eruptions, we see large earthquakes strike the region shortly thereafter -- usually within 1-2 weeks of the volcanic activity.. at least a 6.5M (or greater) strikes the area adjacent to this particular volcano.

There will be times where this volcano does not show activity for multiple days (or sometimes weeks), and then a flurry of eruptions will occur, followed by a large earthquake either Northeast or Southwest of this location in South Japan.

This past week , 2nd week of April 2015, we saw a dramatic increase in eruptions at Sakurajima, followed on April 19th-20th with a SERIES of large earthquakes Southwest of Sakurajima in Taiwan.

See the information on the Taiwan earthquakes HERE.

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Volcano Discovery has set up a timeline describing each event.

Monday April 27, 2015: Strong activity continues from the volcano. This morning (14:24 local time), an explosion at the Showa crater sent a plume to 15,000 ft (4.5 km) altitude that drifted north.

Saturday April 25, 2015: Strong vulcanian explosions have been occurring at the volcano, which remains in a state of elevated activity. During the past 48 hours, at least 17 explosions with ash plumes up to 16,000 ft (5 km) altitude occurred. This approaches the record levels of activity observed during the summer 2013.

Wednesday April 22, 2015: The volcano has been very active recently. Vulcanian-type explosions have been frequent (2-8 per day) and often relatively large. On 15 April, at least 8 explosions occurred, the largest of which produced ash plumes that rose to 15,000 ft (4.5 km altitude), i.e. 3.5 km above the volcano's summit.

Friday March 27, 2015: The volcano is currently in a very active phase. During the past 24 hours alone, at least 14 vulcanian explosions occurred, the largest of which produced ash plumes that rose to 11-13,000 ft (3-4 km) altitude.

Wednesday March 18, 2015: The volcano remains in a very active phase with 5-10 daily explosions. An eruption on 16 March produced an ash plume to 14,000 ft (4.2 km) altitude, i.e. rising approx. 3 km above the Showa crater.

Wednesday March 11, 2015: The volcano continues to produce frequent strombolian to vulcanian-type explosions, often accompanied by long-lasting periods of ash emissions. Our friends Marc Szlegat and Martin Rietze visited the volcano last week. Some impressions of this activity can be seen on this page.

Wednesday March 4, 2015: The volcano has had at least 7 explosions during the past 24 hours, including 3 which produced ash plumes to 10-12,000 ft (3-3.6 km) altitude. Most ash drifted to easterly directions, causing lots of light ash fall in that sector.