The death toll in the Mount Ontake eruption is the worst for Japan in 88 years.
Military rescue units reported finding more bodies buried in ash, bringing the death toll to 47. The searchers were called down from the mountain after the discovery after a discovery of poisonous gasses and fears the mountain was about to explode again.
The mountain had been covered with climbers and hikers who were looking at the fall colors of the leaves when the unexpected eruption blanketed the area with ash. Hundreds were injured in some way by the blast and also breathing issues from the ash.
Witnesses said that there was no warning at all before the mountain erupted.
The death toll is the worst since 144 people died in a 1926 eruption on the island of Hokkaido.
Japanese officials say at least 36 people are feared dead after the unexpected eruption of Mount Ontake.
Rescuers on the peak say they’ve discovered five more bodies under the grey ash that makes the mountain look like the surface of the moon. The search for victims is being suspended because of fears of toxic gases breaking through the mountain.
At least 12 people are confirmed to be dead with 63 injuries. At least 8 are missing and officials say it’s likely the missing people are dead.
The eruption of the mountain’s over 10,000-foot peak struck when hundreds of climbers were on the mountain. The mountain is a site where families would take children to see the leaves change color or to enjoy the breathtaking views.
Now, the paths on the mountain have ash as much as knee-deep.
The last major eruption of the mountain was in 1979 although there was a minor eruption seven years ago.
Japan’s Metrological Agency said they might reconsider their surveillance system for volcanoes.
A volcanic eruption on Indonesia’s most populated island killed three people and forced more than 100,000 to flee their homes.
The debris and ash cloud from the Mount Kelud eruption spread over such a wide area that seven different airports had to be closed because of unsafe conditions.
“The eruption sounded like thousands of bombs exploding,” Ratno Pramono, a 35-year-old farmer, told FoxNews. “I thought doomsday was upon us. Women and children were screaming and crying.”
Indonesia’s disaster agency said they had reports of the eruption from 125 miles away. The ash covered the country’s second largest city, Surabaya, and its population of 3 million. In one city dozens of miles from the mountain, the ash fall was so significant it turned day into night.
The disaster agency said they were monitoring the volcano, which is still trembling, but they believe there will not be another eruption. All towns within six miles of the volcano have been abandoned.
Just days after Indonesian officials told residents near Mount Sinabung was beginning to weaken in volcanic activity, a major eruption has left at least 15 people dead.
Fourteen of the dead are people who were on the side of the mountain when it erupted and died when a rush of hot gas burned them alive. At least four of the dead are high school students who went to the mountain on a field trip with their teacher who also died.
Witnesses say ash at least a foot thick has blanketed miles around the mountain and that rescuers have said it’s unlikely that anyone will be found alive. Sukameriah village, about two miles from the volcano crater, has been wiped from the face of the Earth.
“There’s no signs of human life,” a witness told AFP News Agency. “All the crops were gone. Many houses were damaged and those still standing were covered in thick white ash. It was hard to walk in ash that nearly reached my calves.”
Rescue efforts have been suspended at the recommendation of volcanologists. Searchers at the site had reported volcanic tremors and thick smog.
Four adults and two children were killed when Mount Rokatenda suddenly erupted Saturday morning. The eruption blew volcanic rock over a mile into the air.
The volcano covered a beach with hot ash killing the six. Officials had issued a mandatory evacuation order for the area when the volcano began to show activity last year. An almost two mile exclusion zone was routinely ignored by locals who had begun to accept the rumbling of the volcano was just normal and believed no eruption was about to happen. Continue reading →
