Volcano erupts in Japan; 7 missing, 40 injured

[Buster's Uncle]

Volcano erupts in Japan; 7 missing, 40 injured
Associated Press
By KEN MORITSUGU  15 minutes ago



A volcano erupted in central Japan on Saturday, sending a large plume of ash high into the sky and prompting a warning to climbers and others to avoid the area. (Sept. 27)



TOKYO (AP) — A volcano in central Japan erupted in spectacular fashion on Saturday, catching mountain climbers by surprise and stranding at least 40 injured people in areas that rescue workers have been unable to reach. Another seven people were missing.

The injured, unable to descend 3,067-meter (10,062-foot) Mount Ontake on their own, are staying in mountain lodges, said Sohei Hanamura, a crisis management official in Nagano prefecture. Thirty-two people had serious injuries, including at least seven who lost consciousness.

Police, fire and military rescue workers were planning to try to reach the area on foot after daybreak Sunday, after deciding that the ash in the air made it too dangerous to use helicopters.

Hanamura said seven people were reported missing on the mountain.

Lodge managers are familiar with first aid procedures and were communicating with rescue officials in town, he said.

With a sound likened to thunder, the volcano erupted shortly before noon on a clear autumn day, spewing large white plumes of gas and ash high into the sky and blanketing the surrounding area in ash.



In this photo taken by an anonymous climber and was offered to Kyodo News, dense plumes rise from the summit crater of Mt. Ontake shortly after the volcanic mountain erupts in central Japan, Saturday, Sept. 27, 2014. With a sound likened to thunder, the 3,067-meter (10,062-foot) mountain spewed large white plumes high into the sky, sending people fleeing, covering surrounding areas in ash, with more than 250 people stuck on the slopes for hours, many taking refuge in mountain lodges that dot the way up. (AP Photo/Kyodo News)


Smaller eruptions continued into the night. About 250 people were initially trapped on the slopes, but most had made their way down by Saturday night, Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported. Some were in shelters set up in four nearby towns.

One witness told NHK that the eruption started with large booms that sounded like thunder.

In a video posted on YouTube, shocked climbers can be seen moving quickly away from the peak as an expanding plume of ash emerges above and then engulfs them.

Many of those who made it down emerged with clothes and backpacks covered in ash. They reported being engulfed in total darkness for several minutes.

Mikio Oguro, an NHK journalist who was on the slope on an unrelated assignment, told the station that he saw massive smoke coming out of the crater, blocking sunlight and reducing visibility to zero.



Dense white plumes rise high in the air as Mt. Ontake erupts in central Japan, Saturday, Sept. 27, 2014. With a sound likened to thunder, the 3,067-meter (10,062-foot) mountain spewed large white plumes high into the sky, sending people fleeing, covering surrounding areas in ash and trapping more than 250 climbers. (AP Photo/Kyodo News)


"Massive ash suddenly fell and the entire area was totally covered with ash," he said by phone. He and his crew had to use headlamps to find a lodge.

"My colleagues later told me that they thought they might die," Oguro said.

Two Jetstar flights headed to Tokyo's Narita International Airport diverted to Kansai International Airport in western Japan as a precaution.

Japan's meteorological agency raised the alert level for Mount Ontake to 3 on a scale of 1 to 5. It warned people to stay away from the mountain, saying ash and other debris could fall up to 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) away.

Mount Ontake, about 210 kilometers (130 miles) west of Tokyo, sits on the border of Nagano and Gifu prefectures, on the main Japanese island of Honshu. The volcano's last major eruption was in 1979.



In this photo taken by an anonymous climber and was offered to Kyodo News, dense plumes rising from the summit crater of Mount Ontake cover the slope carpeted by colored autumn leaves after the volcanic mountain erupted in central Japan, Saturday, Sept. 27, 2014. With a sound likened to thunder, the 3,067-meter (10,062-foot) mountain spewed large white plumes high into the sky, sending people fleeing, covering surrounding areas in ash, injuring many climbers who were stranded in mountain lodges and areas that rescue workers have been unable to reach. (AP Photo/Kyodo News)
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Associated Press writer Mari Yamaguchi contributed to this report.
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Online:

御嶽山 大噴火！

http://news.yahoo.com/volcano-erupts-japan-injuries-reported-053344700.html

[Buster's Uncle]

One dead, dozens stranded on erupting Japanese volcano
AFP
By Shingo Ito  1 hour ago



Dozens of hikers were stranded Saturday on the slopes of an erupting Japanese volcano that has reportedly killed one person and left 30 more seriously injured.

Ash, rocks and steam continued to spew from Mount Ontake more than nine hours after it sprang violently to life as around 250 people were trying to scale its peak.

Four people were buried by the ash, with one having been dug out, Kyodo News reported.

"I first thought it was thunder as I heard a bang and another bang, two or three times," a trekker told public broadcaster NHK. "Then volcanic dust fell noisily."

Amateur cameraman Keiji Aoki told Jiji Press: "It was tremendous. I prepared for death when I got caught in the dust under a pine tree."

A suffocating blanket of ash up to 20 centimetres (8 inches) deep covered a large area of the 3,067 metre (10,121-foot) volcano, trapping climbers and forcing up to 150 into mountaintop shelters at one point.

Around 230 people have now reached the bottom but a further 40 are trapped at the summit where they will spend the night in shelters, local media reported.

Aerial footage of Mt. Ontake showed several cabins smothered with the thick dust, some with windows that appear to have been shattered by the force of the eruption.

NHK said 32 people had been seriously injured, including more than 10 who were unconscious. The broadcaster said one woman was now known to have died.


- Troops sent to rescue hikers -

The eruption came on a busy autumn day on a mountain popular among hikers at this time of year.

Footage apparently filmed by someone on the volcano as it erupted showed towering columns of thick smoke surging into the air and then cascading down its flanks, enveloping walkers.

"The speed of the smoke was too fast. You can't escape," a climber told NHK. "I'm worried that many more people are still on the mountain."

Another climber told how it became impossible to breathe and said rocks were falling "like hailstones".

In Tokyo, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe ordered the military to send troops to the peak to rescue hikers.

"We have confirmed that there have been injuries," Abe told reporters. "I ordered (government officials) to do their best to secure the safety of mountain climbers."

Earlier in the day, local authorities said they had received reports from people on the mountain that at least 11 hikers had been injured, including seven unconscious.

"We are trying to confirm the reports," said Sohei Hanamura, an official of the Nagano prefectural government.

"We have not received any reports of death but we are afraid that the number of casualties would increase," Hanamura told AFP by phone.

NHK said three people were trapped outside by the ash and rocks falling around them.

"There was a thunder-like noise and the sky became dark because of the smoke," Shuichi Mukai, who runs a mountain lodge near the summit, told Kyodo News.

Climbers who fled the eruption spoke of their relief.

"I escaped with my life," a local resident told NHK. "Immediately after I saw the eruption, I rushed away but I was soon covered with ash."

Another male climber told how he had cowered behind a rock during the worst of the eruption.

"No one could escape while the smoke was so intense," he said.

The meteorological agency forecast further eruptions, warning that volcanic debris may settle within four kilometres (2.5 miles) of the peak.

The agency also placed restrictions on access to the mountain, while calling on local residents to remain on alert as an eruption could shatter windows miles away.

The last significant eruption of Mount Ontake, which straddles Nagano and Gifu prefectures in the centre of the country, was in 1979 when it expelled more than 200,000 tonnes of ash, according to local media.


http://news.yahoo.com/volcano-erupts-central-japan-hikers-reported-injured-105042669.html

[Buster's Uncle]

Japanese volcano kills one, over 30 seriously injured
Reuters
By Antoni Slodkowski and Mari Saito  1 hour ago



Some 250 people stranded near peak of erupting volcano in Japan



TOKYO (Reuters) - A Japanese volcano popular with hikers erupted on Saturday, killing one woman and seriously injuring more than 30 people, officials and media said.

The mountain draws walkers who come to admire the autumn colors on the trees.

"It was like thunder," a woman told public broadcaster NHK of the first eruption at the volcano in seven years. "I heard boom, boom, then everything went dark."

The Japan Meteorological Agency said the volcano, Mount Ontake, which straddles Nagano and Gifu prefectures 200 km (125 miles) west of Tokyo, erupted just before midday and sent ash pouring down the mountain's south slope for more than three km (two miles).

Tokyo's Haneda airport said incoming domestic flights were experiencing delays of about 40 to 50 minutes because they were forced to change routes. International flights to and from Haneda were not affected by the eruption, the airport said.



A helicopter (R top) flies near rising smoke and mountain lodges (R bottom) covered with volcanic ash near a crater of Mount Ontake, which straddles Nagano and Gifu prefectures September 27, 2014, in this photo taken and released by Kyodo. REUTERS/Kyodo


NHK, citing the local fire brigade, reported that one woman had been confirmed dead. More than 30 people were seriously injured and 10 of them were unconscious, it said.

According to police, more than 250 hikers at one stage had been stranded on the mountain, which is 3,067 meters (10,062 feet) high and last erupted in 2007. No nuclear power plants are located nearby.

NHK said about 230 hikers had made their way down the mountain, while 41 people remained stranded and were expected to try descending the next day.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who returned from the United States on Saturday, said he had ordered the military to help in rescue efforts.

"I instructed to do all we can to rescue the people affected and secure the safety of the trekkers," Abe told reporters.

Nagano police sent a team of 80 to the mountain to assist the climbers, while Kiso Prefectural Hospital, near the mountain, said it had dispatched a medical emergency team.

"We expect a lot of injured people so we are now getting ready for their arrival," said an official at the hospital.

As of 8:30 p.m. local time, the eruption was continuing, NHK said.

"It's all white outside, looks like it has snowed. There is very bad visibility and we can’t see the top of the mountain," Mari Tezuka, who works at a mountain hut for trekkers, told Reuters.

"All we can do now is shut up the hut and then we are planning on coming down... This is a busy season because of the changing autumn leaves. It's one of our busiest seasons."

(Reporting by Antoni Slodkowski, Mari Saito and Kiyoshi Takenaka; Writing by Kiyoshi Takenaka; Additional reporting by Chris Gallagher; Editing by Nick Macfie and Stephen Powell)


http://news.yahoo.com/japan-volcano-erupts-several-injured-aircraft-diverted-055151893.html