Eruption smashes windows 8km away
Source: Agencies |
February 2, 2011, Wednesday
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Print Edition
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A VOLCANO in southern Japan erupted yesterday with its biggest explosion yet, shooting out a plume of gas, boulders and ash and breaking windows eight kilometers away.
The danger zone around Shinmoedake volcano was widened to keep residents safe. The largest eruption since it burst back to life last week covered wide areas in ash, shot boulders onto distant roads, knocked down trees and broke hundreds of windows in hotels and offices.
No serious injuries have been reported since the initial eruption last Wednesday, but public broadcaster NHK said a woman suffered cuts from shattered glass in Tuesday's blast.
NHK reported that the eruption was five times larger than the -initial activity last week, which was Shinmoedake's first major eruption in 52 years.
Japan's Meteorological Agency has restricted access to the mountain, and on Tuesday broadened the no-go zone to anywhere within a four-kilometer radius of the crater. Two lodges and scattered homes are within the perimeter.
Dozens of domestic flights in and out of Miyazaki - about 950km southwest of Tokyo - were grounded last week and more cancellations followed. Train services were temporarily suspended in the area and many schools closed.
Officials in the town of Takaharu have urged about 1,100 residents who live near the volcano to go to evacuation centers because of the -danger of debris, ash and landslides. The warning was not mandatory, however, and some residents were returning to their homes.
Experts said a dome of lava was growing larger inside the 1,421-meter volcano's crater, but it was not yet -certain whether the dome would grow enough for the lava to spill over the rim and create large flows down the volcano's sides.
The danger zone around Shinmoedake volcano was widened to keep residents safe. The largest eruption since it burst back to life last week covered wide areas in ash, shot boulders onto distant roads, knocked down trees and broke hundreds of windows in hotels and offices.
No serious injuries have been reported since the initial eruption last Wednesday, but public broadcaster NHK said a woman suffered cuts from shattered glass in Tuesday's blast.
NHK reported that the eruption was five times larger than the -initial activity last week, which was Shinmoedake's first major eruption in 52 years.
Japan's Meteorological Agency has restricted access to the mountain, and on Tuesday broadened the no-go zone to anywhere within a four-kilometer radius of the crater. Two lodges and scattered homes are within the perimeter.
Dozens of domestic flights in and out of Miyazaki - about 950km southwest of Tokyo - were grounded last week and more cancellations followed. Train services were temporarily suspended in the area and many schools closed.
Officials in the town of Takaharu have urged about 1,100 residents who live near the volcano to go to evacuation centers because of the -danger of debris, ash and landslides. The warning was not mandatory, however, and some residents were returning to their homes.
Experts said a dome of lava was growing larger inside the 1,421-meter volcano's crater, but it was not yet -certain whether the dome would grow enough for the lava to spill over the rim and create large flows down the volcano's sides.
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