Sarigan

Sarigan is an island in the Northern Mariana Islands in the Pacific Ocean. The island is currently uninhabited. Sarigan is located 37 kilometers (20 nmi) northeast of Anatahan and 150 km (81 nmi) north of Saipan, and is 67 km (36 nmi) south of Guguan.

Geography

Sarigan is roughly triangular in shape, with a length of 2.7 kilometers (1.7 mi) and a width of 2.5 km (1.6 mi) and an area of 4.5 km² (1.7 sq mi). The island is the summit of Holocene era stratovolcano which rises to an altitude of 538 m (1,765 ft) above sea level at its highest peak. The volcano is topped by a caldera, 750 meters in diameter, with an ash cone and two lava domes, which produced lava flows which reached the coast. No eruptions have been recorded in the historical period, although a swarm of volcano-tectonic earthquakes took place here in the summer of 2005.

Landing on Sarigan is difficult due to perpendicular cliffs surrounding the island. It has many ravines and valleys with dense tropical vegetation.

Approximately 12 km (6.5 nmi) south of Sarigan is the South Sarigan Seamount, a submarine volcano with several peaks, with a maximum height of approximately 184 meters below sea level. It briefly erupted in May 2010 producing a plume of water vapor approximately 12 kilometers high.