Volcano in Japan
Kikai volcano: eruption status today
Updated
Kikai is active now: NASA lists an open volcanic activity event (latest report May 17, 2026) 1 earthquake within 50 km in the past 7 days.
Live status of Kikai: whether it is erupting now, satellite hot spots, earthquakes around it, and what an eruption would mean for nearby cities and flights.
- Status now
- Active (NASA EONET) latest report May 17, 2026
- Last eruption
- 1964 or later last significant: -4350
- Elevation
- 704 m 2,310 ft
- Type
- Caldera
- Earthquakes within 50 km
- 1 past 30 days (USGS)
- Hot spots within 10 km
- 0 latest NASA FIRMS VIIRS data
- Nearest city
- Kanoya 84 km NE
Is Kikai erupting right now?
NASA's Earth Observatory Natural Event Tracker (EONET) has an open volcanic event for Kikai, last updated May 17, 2026 (162 days ago). EONET opens an event when agencies such as the Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program report eruptive activity or unrest, and closes it when activity ends.
No satellite thermal hot spot was detected within 10 km of the summit in the latest NASA FIRMS data, so there is no sign of lava at the surface large enough for VIIRS to see (clouds can hide it).
Earthquakes near Kikai
USGS located 1 earthquake within 50 km of Kikai in the past 30 days, 1 of them in the last week. The largest was M4.3 on Oct 21, 2026, 33 km N of the summit at 169 km depth.
0 of them were shallower than 10 km. Swarms of shallow quakes can mean magma or gas is moving, but most swarms end without an eruption; observatories combine them with ground deformation and gas data.
| Time (UTC) | Magnitude | Distance | Depth | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 21, 15:13 UTC | M4.3 | 33 km N | 169 km | 19 km S of Makurazaki, Japan |
About Kikai
Kikai is a caldera in Ryukyu Is, Japan, rising to 704 m (2,310 ft). NOAA NCEI classes its eruptive history as "Historical".
A caldera is a large collapse depression left after a major eruption; activity can range from small steam blasts to rare, very large eruptions.
The nearest large town is Kanoya, about 84 km NE of the summit; 5 other cities lie within 250 km.
- Kanoya (84 km) earthquakes nearby
- Kagoshima (89 km) earthquakes nearby
- Kirishima (114 km) earthquakes nearby
- Miyakonojō (127 km) earthquakes nearby
- Miyazaki (164 km)
- Honmachi (192 km)
Flights and volcanic ash
No major hub airport is within 400 km (the closest is Kansai, 615 km away), but ash clouds from explosive eruptions can drift for thousands of kilometres along flight routes.
Volcanic Ash Advisory Centres (VAACs) issue the official ash advisories that airlines and air traffic control follow.
Other volcanoes in Japan
Japan has 52 volcanoes on this site that erupted since 1900 or are active now, 2 of them with an open NASA activity report today. The closest other one is Kuchinoerabujima, 40 km away.
Nearby volcanoes
Volcanoes in Japan
More
Data: NOAA NCEI Volcano Locations, NASA EONET (open volcano events), USGS earthquakes, NASA FIRMS (VIIRS hot spots), Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program.