Tourists flee amid volcanic eruption

TOKYO: Mt Aso in the southwestern Japanese prefecture of Kumamoto erupted yesterday, leading to tourists being evacuated and flights cancelled or diverted, authorities said, but there were no immediate reports of injuries or damage to structures.

The eruption occurred at around 9.43am (7.43am Thai time) at one of the peaks that make up one of the world’s largest calderas, shooting ash 2,000m into the air and scattering large rocks, the Japan Meteorological Agency said, adding that pyroclastic flows may have occurred.

The agency raised the alert level for the 1,506m Mt Nakadake, one of the five peaks that constitute Mt Aso, to level 3 on the scale of 5, calling on people not to approach the mountain. It warned of falling rocks within 2km of the crater.

A 2,000m column of smoke was last seen in December 1994 and the alert level was raised to 3 for the first time since the system was introduced in 2007, a local meteorological observatory said.

An area within 4km of the No 1 crater of Mt Nakadake was declared off-limits by local authorities, which said there are restaurants and a museum but no houses in the area.

Police and other local authorities said they evacuated about 30 tourists and others who were near the crater at the time of the eruption.

The crater of Mt Nakadake is accessible to tourists, offering the sight of an active volcano that emits smoke continuously and occasionally erupts. The world’s first ropeway over an active volcano has operated since 1958.

In a 1953 eruption, six tourists were killed by falling rocks and other causes, while more than 90 others were injured.

“I saw white smoke rise above in the morning and it soon turned dark,” said an employee at an inn some 7km from the crater.

More than 100 tourists including foreigners were visiting a museum about 3km away from the crater when the eruption occurred, but they were able to descend by bus, an official of the museum said.

The operator of Kumamoto airport, about 20km west of the mountain, said flights have been cancelled or diverted to nearby airports.

All Nippon Airways Co cancelled six flights to and from Kumamoto Airport while Japan Airlines Co cancelled four. The government has set up a headquarters to deal with the eruption.

The mountain has continued erupting on and off since last November. The weather agency had maintained the alert level at 2, making the area within 1km of the crater off-limits, since raising it to that level on Aug 30, 2014.

Volcanic earthquakes had increased recently on t he mountain and t he latest eruption was bigger in scale, the agency said.

In September last year, a volcano crowded with hikers suddenly erupted in central Japan, killing 58 people, with five others still missing.