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Mount Shindake erupts in Japan | Mount Shindake erupts in Japan |
(7 months later) | |
A volcano has erupted on a small island in Southern Japan today, prompting an evacuation order from authorities. | A volcano has erupted on a small island in Southern Japan today, prompting an evacuation order from authorities. |
No injuries have been reported since the 10am eruption, which sent a dense pyroclastic flow of rock and hot gases seaward. | No injuries have been reported since the 10am eruption, which sent a dense pyroclastic flow of rock and hot gases seaward. |
The Japan Meteorological Agency raised the volcano alert to five for Kuchinoerabu island, where Shindake is located. Shindake also erupted in August last year for the first time since 1980. | The Japan Meteorological Agency raised the volcano alert to five for Kuchinoerabu island, where Shindake is located. Shindake also erupted in August last year for the first time since 1980. |
Chief government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said that the coast guard had dispatched a ship to help evacuate residents and a military helicopter has been sent to survey the island and assess damage. | Chief government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said that the coast guard had dispatched a ship to help evacuate residents and a military helicopter has been sent to survey the island and assess damage. |
Nobuaki Hayashi, a local village chief, said about 120 of the island's 137 residents were gathered at a local evacuation facility. | Nobuaki Hayashi, a local village chief, said about 120 of the island's 137 residents were gathered at a local evacuation facility. |
"There was a really loud, 'dong' sound of an explosion, and then black smoke rose, darkening the sky," he told the national broadcaster NHK. "It smelled of sulphur." | "There was a really loud, 'dong' sound of an explosion, and then black smoke rose, darkening the sky," he told the national broadcaster NHK. "It smelled of sulphur." |
Hayashi said a few people on the island were still unaccounted for. One person, who lives in an area that is generally off-limits, was to be evacuated by boat as he could not travel safely to the shelter by land. | |
"The skies here are blue, but smoke is still rising to the west," he said. | "The skies here are blue, but smoke is still rising to the west," he said. |
Kuchinoerabu is 50 miles southwest of the main southern island of Kyushu, and is a heavily forested mountainous national park island, supported mainly by tourism and fishing. |