VOLCANIC ERUPTION
ATMOSPHERIC ASH
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Volcanic eruptions can be far more devastating than atom bombs!
For now, deadly Ontake eruption traps more than 270 hikers, injuring dozens and burying 3 others under volcanic ash.
Ontake volcano (283040), the second highest volcano in Japan, which straddles the border between Nagano and Gifu prefectures, erupted late Saturday morning, spewing a thick plume of ash, smoke and volcanic matter up to a height of 3.5km.
Pyroclasts including small rocks ejected from the angry volcano have seriously injured at least 32 people, knocking more than a dozen of them unconscious, said local reports quoting officials at Kiso fire department in Nagano Prefecture.
Three climbers are missing believed to be buried under volcanic ash. “A 4th person who was buried under ash was later rescued but remains unconscious,” said the local TV news.
Deadly Eruption
[Updated at 14:40UTC] At least one person, a 38 year-old female, has been killed as a result of the eruption, said local reports.
More than 40 of the 271 hikers initially stranded, taking shelter at a cottage near the volcano summit, still remain on the mountain, including the injured who are waiting to be rescued.
The 3,067-meter tall volcano, located about 200km west of Tokyo, last erupted 7 years ago. A previous eruption in 1979 caused significant damage to crops in the nearby farms.
“It’s all white outside, looks like it has snowed. There is very bad visibility and we can’t see the top of the mountain,” a worker at a mountain hut for trekkers told Reuters.
“There are 15cm of ash on the ground,” she said.
“All we can do now is shut up the hut and then we are planning on coming down… This is a busy season because of the changing autumn leaves. It’s one of our busiest seasons.”
Authorities have warned that the eruption could eject pyroclasts as far as 4km from the caldera.
A thick plume of ash was still hanging over the volcano at dusk, TV footage showed.
“We expect a lot of injured people so we are now getting ready for their arrival,” said an official at Kiso Prefectural Hospital located near the mountain.
Meantime, the local meteorological agency upgraded its 5-stage volcanic alert for Ontake to “Orange” or Level 3—Do not approach the volcano.
Sakurajima also Erupted Today
Meantime, Tokyo Volcanic Ash Advisory issue an eruption alert for SAKURAJIMA-WAKAMIKO (AIRA-CALDERA) 282080, earlier today.
The volcano erupted at 10:16UTC (2014/09/27) with the ash cloud climbing to FL070 and extending southwesterly.
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