September 24, 1952 Eruption of Myojinsho
Myojinsho in Japan erupted on September 24, 1952 with a Volcanic Explosivity Index of 2. The eruption killed 31 people. It caused a tsunami.
Where it erupted
Myojinsho, Japan, with its other significant eruptions.
The eruption
- Date
- September 24, 1952
- Volcano
- Myojinsho, submarine volcano
- Country
- Japan
- Volcanic Explosivity Index
- 2, moderate (eruption column 1 to 5 km)
- Killed by
- Pyroclastic flows, surges and direct blasts
- Tsunami
- Yes: the tsunami it caused
- Location
- 31.888° N, 139.918° E
The toll
- Deaths
- 31
- Damage
- Limited (under about $1 million)
Where the literature gives no number, NCEI records a description on a scale of 1 to 4, printed here in its words. Damage is in millions of US dollars of the year of the event, not adjusted for inflation.
What the record says
NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.
Start Date: September 16, 1952; End Date: October 1953; VEI 2. (reference #2432)
1952, September 24. The ship "Kiyo Maru No 5" of the Japanese hydrographic service, which had come out to study the eruption, was lost in the eruption of September 24. (reference #414)
1952, September 24. Research ship Kaiyo-maru, while over central submarine dome Myojin-sho, sunk by explosion; all 31 on board killed. (reference #9675)
31 members of the crew of the No. 5 Kaiyomaru observation, belonging to the Maritime Safety Agency Hydrographic Department and was conducting research at the time, were killed. (reference #12936)
No discussion of the 1952-1953 Myo3msho eruption would be complete without acknowledgement of the tragedy that befell the Japanese survey ship No. 5 Kaiyo-maru. At approximately 12:20 p.m. JST on 24 September 1952 the ship approached the temporarily quiescent Myojinsho and was shattered by a large phreatomagmatic explosion, killing all 31 people aboard... The 1952-1953 eruption involved three phases of dome growth, each of which formed a small island (or islands), and approximately 1000 phreatomagmatic explosions, which in turn destroyed the domes and repeatedly disrupted the rubbly summit of the volcano. (reference #5384)
Other significant eruptions of Myojinsho
More
Every eruption in 1952The 1900sMyojinshoEarthquakes near MyojinshoThis day in weather history
Sources
Volcanoes and significant eruptions from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, Global Historical Hazard Database, cited as NCEI/WDS, doi:10.7289/V5PN93H7. Public domain. Read 2026-09-24. Volcano numbers are the Smithsonian Institution’s Global Volcanism Program’s. NCEI event 4852.