Tremor hinders operations

TOKYO: A volcanic tremor forced police and firefighters to suspend search operations yesterday at a ski resort near a volcano in eastern Japan that erupted the day before, officials said.

The eruption of Mt Moto-Shirane in Gunma Prefecture on Tuesday rained volcanic rocks onto people at the Kusatsu Kokusai Ski Resort, killing a 49-year-old Ground Self-Defence Force sergeant major training there and injuring 11 skiers.

While the number of volcanic earthquakes has dropped significantly since the eruption at 9.59am Tuesday, the Japan Meteorological Agency warned that the 2,171-metre mountain could erupt again and spew large volcanic rocks.

Kenji Nogami, a professor of geochemistry at Tokyo Institute of Technology who is conducting a field survey, said the latest eruption was a “typical phreatic eruption,” in which groundwater heated by lava turns into vapour and explodes.

The land ministry sent experts to survey the eruption by helicopter, while local police and firefighters were searching by land to make sure there were no other victims left behind, before the operation was halted yesterday morning.

The experts said the risk of landslides occurring at Mt Moto-Shirane is believed to be low at the moment.

Volcanic mudflow often accompanies an eruption at a snowy mountain. When massive amounts of melted snow mixes with soil, it can turn into a huge mudflow that can travel at speeds of over 60km-per-hour.