The volcano, previously labelled the world’s most dangerous, has been tipped to erupt this year in what would be a devastating event for the nearby regions.

Japan’s scarred and mountainous landscape betrays its highly active volcanic nature.

It sits on the so-called Ring of Fire, and more than 100 of the world’s 1,350 volcanoes are scattered across the country, many of which are active and ready to blow.

Iwo Jima is one of them, a dome created thousands of years ago which has reared its head in recent years.

Perhaps the most notable eruption came last year when so much volcanic ash and rock built up on the shallow seabed that an entirely new island was created.

Now, some scientists are warning that Iwo Jima risks erupting at an even greater rate this year.

Educational channel GeologyHub collated a list of the volcanoes most likely to erupt in 2024 at the beginning of the year, including along the southwest peninsula which went on to happen.

The entire central island of Iwo Jima consists of a massive resurgent dome of a 10km wide caldera. Because its magma chamber constantly refills, the island itself has been lifted around 62 feet since the end of World War 2.

This has occurred at a fairly consistent rate of 20 to 30 centimetres a year, but the last several years have seen a staggering 50 to 150 centimetres of annual uplift.

The movement has set into motion several volcanic eruptions, with Iwo Jima erupting in 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023, including some underwater events.

In October 2023, perhaps the strongest volcanic eruption occurred along the seabed near Iwo Jima at an unnamed undersea volcano.