Esan (Japan) - Report for 6 August-12 August 2026 - New Unrest — volcanic activity reported

Esan (Japan) - Report for 6 August-12 August 2026 - New Unrest — volcanic activity reported was recorded by Global Incident Tracker on Thursday, 13 August 2026 at 08:03 UTC. The event is classified as a volcanic eruption incident with a severity rating of Moderate, and was detected through GVP.

The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) reported that volcanic earthquakes with hypocenters near the crater floor at Esan increased during 5 August through the next morning. The event count was 53 on 5 August, with an additional 6 through 1200 on 6 August. This was the first time since 31 March 2012 that the 24-hour maximum earthquake count exceeded 50 events at Esan. No volcanic tremor was recorded, and ground deformation and fumarolic conditions at the craters showed no changes. JMA stated that no signs of increasing volcanic activity were recognized. The Alert Level remained at 1 (on a 5-level scale). Source: Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA)

Where this happened

The incident is located in Japan (Asia), whose capital is Tokyo. Historically, Japan is most affected by earthquakes, tsunamis, typhoons and volcanic eruptions. You can follow every incident recorded in this country, updated live, on the Japan incident tracker.

Approximate coordinates of the reported event are 36.200°, 138.300°. The marker on the map above shows this position; for news-derived reports the location reflects the place named in media coverage and may represent a district or city rather than an exact site.

Understanding volcanic eruption events

Eruptions producing ash, lava, pyroclastic flows and lahars. Volcanic risk extends far beyond lava. Pyroclastic flows, ashfall that collapses roofs, lahars (volcanic mudflows) and aviation-grade ash clouds account for most volcanic casualties and economic damage.

How severity is rated

Global Incident Tracker rates every event on a four-step scale — Minor, Moderate, Severe and Extreme — derived from the source signal: earthquake magnitude, official GDACS alert colour, or the volume of independent media reporting for news-derived incidents. This event is currently rated Moderate. Ratings can change as more information becomes available, and a rating is a monitoring signal rather than an official government assessment.

Safety guidance for volcanic eruption situations

• Follow exclusion zones exactly — pyroclastic flows travel faster than any vehicle on local roads.
• Protect against ashfall with an N95 mask and eye protection; ash damages lungs and engines.
• Avoid river valleys and low ground downstream, where lahars concentrate.
• Clear roof ash carefully; wet ash is extremely heavy and collapses structures.
• Follow only official instructions from local authorities and emergency services — this page is a monitoring record, not an emergency alert.

Data and verification

This record was generated automatically from GVP and de-duplicated against our archive. Early reports for any incident can be revised: locations get refined, magnitudes are recalculated and impact figures change as assessments arrive. We deliberately do not publish casualty numbers unless an official source states them. The original source report is linked at the top of this page.

Keep watching the situation on our live world incident map, browse every volcanic eruptions we track on the Volcanic Eruption tracker, or see today's global picture on the incidents today page.

Timeline and sources

1. 14 Aug 2026, 02:57 UTC · received · event time 13 Aug 2026, 08:03 UTC
   First report Official agency record

   First recorded from Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program.

   Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program ↗

Times are when this site received each report, in UTC; the event time is shown where the source gave one. Copies of one syndicated story count as one report.

Conditions at the time