Kuchinoerabu-jima
, is one of the Satsunan Islands, usually classed with the Ōsumi Islands belonging to Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. The island, in area, has a population of 147. The island can only be reached by boat as it has no airport. There is regular ferry service with Yakushima, which is about 15 km to the east. Travel time is approximately 1 hour. The islanders are dependent mainly on fishing, agriculture and seasonal tourism. The entire island is within the borders of the Kirishima-Yaku National Park. Geography Kuchinoerabu-jima is located south of Kagoshima. The island is of volcanic origin, and has an area of approximately with a length of and width of . The highest elevations on the island are , with a height of and , with a height of above sea level. There are numerous hot springs on the island. The island is an active volcano which has erupted several times during the modern period, including 24 December 1933, when several people were killed when lava masses buried several villages. In 1980, multiple explosion craters appeared along an north-south fissure on the slope east of Shindake. Shindake erupted again on 4 August 2014, generating a pyroclastic flow, but with no