A new island was formed off the coast of Nishinoshima, Japan, after an underwater volcano erupted and produced the small patch of new land.
The Japanese government announced on Thursday that it will wait to see whether the landmass sinks back into the water before giving the new island a name.
A volcano beneath the sea erupted in an explosion of rocks and smoke that shot one-third of a mile into the air, USA Today reported. The island has been measured as 660 feet in diameter, and sits about 620 miles south of Tokyo, according to the Associated Press.
The Japanese navy reported seeing the first plumes of smoke on Wednesday morning. Officials quickly named the "surtseyan activity" - the kind of volcanic eruption that occurs in seas or lakes - happening there as the creation of a new landmass.
The coast guard released a notice of caution shortly after, warning ships of the new island standing in the middle of the sea.
"Smoke is still rising from the volcanic island, and we issued a navigation warning to say that this island has emerged with ash falling in the area," the statement read.
A government spokesperson told Kyodo News that this isn't the first time an island has cropped up out of Japanese waters.
"In some cases the islands disappeared," the spokesperson said. But if it doesn't, the government plans to expand the country's territorial waters.
This is the only reported volcanic activity in this portion of the Pacific Ocean's "Ring of Fire" for the past 40 years.
