Japan sees increased volcanic activity

The eruption last week of Mt. Shindake on Kuchinoerabujima island riggered the nation's first Level 5 volcanic alert, the highest level and one that calls for evacuation.

"Eruptions much bigger than the latest one on Kuchinoerabujima island occur along the Japanese archipelago several times every century," said Tsugutoshi Fujii, the head of the Coordinating Committee for Prediction of Volcanic Eruptions. "Bigger eruptions could possibly occur from now."

In addition to the steam eruption on Mt. Ontake last September, the eruption warning level of Mt. Hakone was raised earlier this month to Level 2, which makes entry around the crater prohibited, as the mountain straddling Kanagawa and Shizuoka prefectures had more volcanic earthquakes than usual.

In the Tohoku region, there have been increases in the number of volcanic earthquakes in the Zao mountain range on the Yamagata-Miyagi prefectural border and in the Azuma mountain range, which straddles the prefectures of Fukushima and Yamagata.

The Kyushu region saw 595 explosive eruptions on Sakurajima, a volcanic island in Kagoshima Prefecture, as of 5 p.m. Friday from the beginning of this year, which exceeded all of last year, when 450 such eruptions were recorded.

To improve preparation for volcanic disasters, the government on Friday obtained Cabinet approval of a bill to revise the law on special measures concerning active volcanoes, which enhances the roles of local governments. The move came in response to last year's disaster on Mt. Ontake. Local governments in areas around 50 volcanoes, including those under the Japan Meteorological Agency's around-the-clock observations, are targeted for the new legislation.