GEIS-新闻详情

Japan's Mount Aso erupts, people warned away

2021-10-22 00:00:00.0 海峡时报-亚洲原网页

TOKYO (REUTERS) - A volcano on Japan's main south-western island of Kyushu erupted on Wednesday (Oct 20), spewing volcanic ash 3,500m into the sky and prompting officials to warn against the threat of lava flows and falling rocks, but there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.

Mount Aso, a tourist destination, erupted at around 11.43am Tokyo time, Japan's Meteorological Agency said.

There were no immediate reports of casualties or major damage at the popular tourist destination.

But, the meteorological agency raised the alert level for the volcano to level 3 on a scale of 5, telling people not to approach the mountain. It also warned of large volcanic blocks and pyroclastic flows scattering within a range of approximately 1km from the mountain's Nakadake crater.

The government is checking to determine the status of a number of climbers on the mountain at the time, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters, but added that there were no reports of casualties.

Television networks broadcast images of a dark cloud of ash looming over the volcano that swiftly obscured large swathes of the mountain.

Ash falls from one of the peaks of the 1,592m mountain in Kumamoto prefecture will be detected in nearby towns until late afternoon on Wednesday, according to the agency.

There was a small eruption at Mount Aso in 2019, and 63 people were killed on Mount Ontake in September 2014, which was the worst volcanic disaster in Japan for nearly 90 years.