The 1888 eruption of Mount Bandai was a major

volcanic eruption A volcanic eruption occurs when material is expelled from a volcanic vent or fissure. Several types of volcanic eruptions have been distinguished by volcanologists. These are often named after famous volcanoes where that type of behavior h ...

which occurred during the

Meiji period The was an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868, to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonizatio ...

of the

Empire of Japan The Empire of Japan, also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was the Japanese nation state that existed from the Meiji Restoration on January 3, 1868, until the Constitution of Japan took effect on May 3, 1947. From Japan–Kor ...

. The eruption occurred on July 15, 1888,

pyroclastic flow A pyroclastic flow (also known as a pyroclastic density current or a pyroclastic cloud) is a fast-moving current of hot gas and volcanic matter (collectively known as tephra) that flows along the ground away from a volcano at average speeds of b ...

s buried villages on the northern foot of the mountain, and devastated the eastern part of Bandai region, Iwashiro Province (now part of

Fukushima Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Fukushima Prefecture has a population of 1,771,100 () and has a geographic area of . Fukushima Prefecture borders Miyagi Prefecture and Yamagata Prefecture ...

) north of

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

. At least 477 people were killed, and hundreds more were injured and rendered homeless.Smith, Encyclopedia of Geology, pp 461 Mount Bandai is a

stratovolcano A stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, is a typically conical volcano built up by many alternating layers (strata) of hardened lava and tephra. Unlike shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile with ...

. Its most recent previous eruption had occurred in 806. Mount Bandai had a conical profile, and had been compared in literature with

Mount Fuji is an active stratovolcano located on the Japanese island of Honshu, with a summit elevation of . It is the highest mountain in Japan, the second-highest volcano on any Asian island (after Mount Kerinci on the Indonesian island of Sumatra), a ...

. The Bandai volcano consisted of four peaks: O-bandai (1,819 meters), Kushigamine (1,636 meters), Akahaniyama (1,427 meters), and Ko-bandai which was slightly lower than that of O-bandai. Small

earthquake An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they ...

s were reported on 8, 9 and 10 July. Moderate earthquakes occurred on 13 and 14 July. However, as earthquakes are commonplace all over Japan, these tremors were not viewed by the local populace with great concern.

Eruption

On 15 July, three earthquakes occurred prior to the main eruption. The third one was the largest, at around

magnitude Magnitude may refer to: Mathematics *Euclidean vector, a quantity defined by both its magnitude and its direction *Magnitude (mathematics), the relative size of an object *Norm (mathematics), a term for the size or length of a vector *Order of ...

5. At 07:45, while the ground was still moving, a

phreatic eruption A phreatic eruption, also called a phreatic explosion, ultravulcanian eruption or steam-blast eruption, occurs when magma heats ground water or surface water. The extreme temperature of the magma (anywhere from ) causes near-instantaneous evap ...

began at the

fumarole A fumarole (or fumerole) is a vent in the surface of the Earth or another rocky planet from which hot volcanic gases and vapors are emitted, without any accompanying liquids or solids. Fumaroles are characteristic of the late stages of volcani ...

s approximately 100 meters upslope from the Kaminoyu hot spring resort on the flank of Ko-Bandai. Successive explosions occurred 15 to 20 times per minute. Each explosion was accompanied by thunder and a black eruption column ascending to a height of 1300 meters. The last explosion was observed to discharge a horizontal cloud, mainly toward the north. Within 10 minutes after the explosions, a pyroclastic flow swept over the eastern part of the volcano. According to eyewitness, at least two phreatic eruptions continued after the large collapse. At around 10:00, hot rain started falling, transforming the vast quantity of

volcanic ash Volcanic ash consists of fragments of rock, mineral crystals, and volcanic glass, produced during volcanic eruptions and measuring less than 2 mm (0.079 inches) in diameter. The term volcanic ash is also often loosely used to r ...

into

lahar A lahar (, from ) is a violent type of mudflow or debris flow composed of a slurry of Pyroclastic rock, pyroclastic material, rocky debris and water. The material flows down from a volcano, typically along a valley, river valley. Lahars are o ...

(volcanic

mudslide A mudflow, also known as mudslide or mud flow, is a form of mass wasting involving fast-moving flow of debris and dirt that has become liquified by the addition of water. Such flows can move at speeds ranging from 3 meters/minute to 5 meters/ ...

s). At 16:00, ash fall ceased.

Aftermath

The eruption transformed hundreds of square kilometers of forest and farmland around the mountain into a wasteland. Several villages were completely buried under landslides, which also considerably altered the

topography Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the landforms and features themselves, or a description or depiction in maps. Topography is a field of geoscience and planetary sci ...

of the region by diverting rivers and creating a number of new lakes. Approximately 1.5 cubic kilometers of the summit of the mountain had collapsed, and flowed northwards. Japanese

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the structure, composition, and History of Earth, history of Earth. Geologists incorporate techniques from physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and geography to perform research in the Field research, ...

Seikei Sekiya , alternatively Sekiya Kiyokage, was a Japanese geologist, one of the first seismologists, influential in establishing the study of seismology in Japan and known for his model showing the motion of an earth-particle during an earthquake. Caree ...

and Y. Kikuchi from the

Imperial University of Tokyo The University of Tokyo (, abbreviated as in Japanese and UTokyo in English) is a public research university in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1877 as the nation's first modern university by the merger of several pre-westernisation era ins ...

visited Bandai within days of the eruption. After spending several months studying the new crater and the devastated areas, they published a report in English (“The eruption of Bandai-san” Tokyo Imperial University College of Sciences Journal 3 (1890), pp 91–171), which is considered a classic in

volcanology Volcanology (also spelled vulcanology) is the study of volcanoes, lava, magma and related geology, geological, geophysical and geochemistry, geochemical phenomena (volcanism). The term ''volcanology'' is derived from the Latin language, Latin ...

. A photograph of the ruined mountain was the first news photograph printed by the

Yomiuri Shimbun The is a Japanese newspaper published in Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, Fukuoka, Fukuoka, and other major Japanese cities. It is one of the five major newspapers in Japan; the other four are ''The Asahi Shimbun'', the ''Chunichi Shimbun'', the ''Ma ...

in Japan.Clancey, Earthquake Nation, pp 104 The eruption was the first major disaster faced by the fledgling

Japanese Red Cross The is the Japanese affiliate of the International Red Cross. The Imperial Family of Japan has traditionally supported the society, with the Empress as Honorary President and other imperial family members as vice presidents. Its headquarters ...

, which moved in quickly to provide disaster relief. The lake district formed by this cataclysm is now known as Urabandai or Bandai-kōgen, and has become a popular tourist destination, especially the multi-hued lakes of

Goshiki-numa , is a cluster of five volcanic lakes situated at the foot of Mount Bandai in the center of the lake district of the Bandai Highland ( 磐梯高原, Bandai-kōgen), Kitashiobara, Fukushima, Japan. Goshiki-numa formed when Mount Bandai erupted ...

References

External links

Jan Kozak Collection: Historical Earthquakes (photographs of the eruption and aftermath)
Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research (PEER) Center, University of California, Berkeley (membership required to view full images)
Most Recent Bulletin Report: September 2012 (BGVN 37:09)
United States Geological Survey report on ''volcano.si.edu''.
The Japanese Eruption
New York Times, September 7, 1888
The Earthquake at Ban-Dai-San, Japan
Nature, January 17, 1889: Vol. 39, pp. 279–280 (also availabl
here
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bandai, 1888 eruption 19th-century volcanic events Iwashiro Province 1888 in Japan 1888 natural disasters Volcanic eruptions in Japan Meiji era Natural disasters in Fukushima Prefecture July 1888 VEI-4 eruptions Phreatic eruptions Landslides in Japan 1880s disasters in Asia 19th-century disasters in Japan Lahars

Eruption

Aftermath

See also

References

Further reading

External links