Posted on 06/30/2015 2:09:28 AM PDT by markomalley
The Japan Meteorological Agency raised its alert level for Mt Hakone on Tuesday following an eruption earlier in the day at the volcano located in a hot spring resort area southwest of the capital.
The agency said ash deposits at the volcano in Kanagawa prefecture indicated a small-scale eruption occurred between Monday evening and Tuesday. Mt Hakone, about 80 kilometres from Tokyo, last erupted between the late 12th century and 13th century, according to experts.
The eruption follows volcanic activity in the area, which began intensifying in late April, but showed signs of subsiding recently.
A notable increase in volcanic tremors since Monday prompted the weather agency and a local research institute to send an investigative team to the mountain Tuesday morning.
The town of Hakone called on around 30 residents living in a one-kilometre radius of the Owakudani district to evacuate, expanding the evacuation area from 300 metres.
The alert level was raised from two to three on a five-point scale as the agency warned large volcanic cinders could fall in areas located around 700 metres from where experts believe a new crater has been created.
The latest eruption sparked concern among tourists and locals.
"I'm scared because I've never experienced an earthquake or volcano (eruption) in China," said a 25-year-old female tourist from China. "I plan on cancelling my hotel reservation," she added.
"I thought (the volcanic activity) was starting to calm down so I'm disappointed," said Kiyohiko Yuzurihara of Hakone's tourism association, adding it will place priority on securing the safety of visitors and local residents.
Kazutaka Mannen, chief researcher at the Hot Springs Research Institute of Kanagawa prefecture, said a phreatic eruption, or a steam eruption without the ejection of lava, is believed to have occurred after what appears to be the crater was observed with volcanic cinders the size of a human head lying tens of meters away from it.
So large volcanic cinders could fall in areas located around 700 meters away, but they’re only evacuating people to 300 meters away?
One-kilometer radius = 1000 meters....so if rocks will fall at 700 meters they should be on a 300 meter safety zone.
Ah, thank you for your early morning clarity. Is it the caffeine?
A volcanic eruption in Japan was not actually observed? I have a hard time believing this.
Common Core in Japan?
Without my glasses it looks like a profile of Godzilla in the center of the brightest part of the lower image.
I didn’t even notice. The sky has been pretty nice today besides a bit cloudy.
It is amazing, to me, how we humans have managed to adapt and thrive along side nature’s most destructive forces. Yes, there are unfortunate instances where people die, they get buried by a volcano, sucked up in a tornado, drown in a tsunami, YET, we always rebuild and thrive again.
BUT, we are told there is nothing we can do to survive man made global warming without giving up our liberty and money to The Holy Goreacle.
Ditto.
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