Reconstructing surface eruptive sequence of 2018 small phreatic eruption of Iwo-yama volcano, Kirishima Volcanic Complex, Japan, by infrasound cross-correlation analysis

Abstract

The Iwo-yama volcano of the Kirishima Volcanic Complex in Japan had a small phreatic eruption in April 2018, which newly formed multiple vents. The activity was recorded by two infrasound sensors and two monitoring cameras, which had been installed within 1 km of the vents. This study identified infrasonic signals from the multiple vents by a cross-correlation analysis between the two infrasound sensors. The analysis successfully revealed the signals from two main eruption craters and constrained the infrasound onsets at the individual vents in the two craters. We combined the infrasound results with the images from the cameras and reconstructed the sequence of the small phreatic eruption of Iwo-yama. At each of the two craters, the intense eruption, which was depicted by the evident infrasound signals, occurred several hours after the eruption onset. This study provides a sequence of the activities of the multiple vents in a phreatic eruption, which will be useful for understanding the phreatic eruption and hazard assessments. [Figure not available: see fulltext.].