The MODIS sensor on NASA’s Terra satellite captured another spectacular clear image of Japan yesterday (April 6). The small version (2 kilometer detail) gives a nice overview; for a closer look try the full-resolution version (250 meter detail).

There’s still a good bit of snow up in the mountains. No obvious signs of the earthquake and tsunami damage on this low-resolution imagery, and the turbidity that we observed along the northeastern coast in the first few days following the quake seems to have dissipated or settled out.

Sharp-eyed viewers will note a pale blue plume blowing to the southeast from the island of Miyakejima. This is apparently a plume of sulfuric gases that have been emanating from Mount Oyama, an active volcano on the island, since the last series of eruptions began back in 2000:

Strong aftershocks continue to shake this traumatized region, including a 7.4-magnitude quake yesterday that prompted a brief tsunami warning.