The Chichijima VLBI station is in Chichijima Island, which is far from
the main island and has a geographically unique feature. It is the only
VLBI station located on the Philippine Sea Plate. The Philippine Sea Plate
is considered to subduct beneath the Eurasian Plate, on which the main
island lies. The subduction of the Plate at the coast of the main island
is considered as a factor of earthquakes occurring along the coast between
the Tokai and the southwest region of Japan.
The station plays a critical role to monitor the plate moving toward the
main island at "a very fast speed" of 6-cm per year, and collaborate
with other domestic VLBI stations to perform observations once a month.
Chichijima Island is one of the major bases for the geodesy and space-development
field in Japan, and other facilities such as "the Ogasawara downrange
station" by JAXA and "the VERA Ogasawara station" by NAOJ
are there besides the station.
a landscape of Chichijima
VLBI operation room
in station building
a regular liner,
"Ogasawara-maru",
the only way to travel between Chichijima and the mainland