Tongan volcano has created a substantial new island

Clouds of ash and gas rise from the cone of a new volcanic island some 65 kilometres (40 miles) southwest of Tonga's capital Nuku'alofa. 

The Tongan volcano has created a substantial new island since it began erupting in December, spewing out huge volumes of rock and dense ash that has killed nearby vegetation, officials said. 

The Lands and Natural Resources Ministry said the volcano was erupting from two vents, one on the uninhabited island of Hunga Ha'apai and the other underwater about 100 metres offshore.

Picture: AFP/Getty

Volcano raises new island far south of Japan

Smoke billows from a new island off the coast of Nishinoshima, a small, uninhabited island in the Ogasawara chain, far south of Tokyo Thursday, Nov. 21, 2013. 

The Japan Coast Guard and earthquake experts said a volcanic eruption has raised the new island in the seas to the far south of Tokyo. 

The coast guard issued an advisory Wednesday warning of heavy black smoke from the eruption. 

AP Photo/Kyodo News JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT

A volcanic eruption has raised an island in the seas to the far south of Tokyo, the Japanese coast guard and earthquake experts said.

Advisories from the coast guard and the Japan Meteorological Agency said the islet is about 200 meters (660 feet) in diameter.

It is just off the coast of Nishinoshima, a small, uninhabited island in the Ogasawara chain, which is also known as the Bonin Islands.

The approximately 30 islands are 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) south of Tokyo, and along with the rest of Japan are part of the seismically active Pacific "Ring of Fire."

The coast guard issued an advisory Wednesday warning of heavy black smoke from the eruption. Television footage seen Thursday showed heavy smoke, ash and rocks exploding from the crater, as steam billowed into the sky.

A volcanologist with the coast guard, Hiroshi Ito, told the FNN news network that it was possible the new island might be eroded away.

"But it also could remain permanently," he said.

The last time the volcanos in the area are known to have erupted was in the mid-1970s. Much of the volcanic activity occurs under the sea, which extends thousands of meters deep along the Izu-Ogasawara-Marianas Trench.