Mt Ontake in Japan erupts, hundreds of hikers trapped

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zwiebel

zwiebel

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'Mount Ontake in Japan erupted before noon on Saturday, Sept 27, spewing a large ash plume 3 kilometres up the sky, trapping at least 250 climbers near its summit and injuring at least 8 hikers, reports NHK World TV.'

http://au.ibtimes.com/articles/5678...-ontake-erupts-traps-injures.htm#.VCZ5s8saySM

Ominously, one hiker seems to have been very close to the eruption, which spewed hot ash miles into the air. :(

Jon Passantino (@passantino) tweeted at 8:39am - 27 Sep 14:

Hiker on Mt. Ontake tweeted this photo of the volcano crater one minute before the eruption, and hasn’t tweeted since pic.twitter.com/B5S2O6SH9q (https://twitter.com/passantino/status/515752674096971776)
 

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電子演算 (@DNS_ENZN) tweeted at 6:33am - 27 Sep 14:

御嶽山噴火したらしいですが、ここで鹿児島の日常を見てみましょう pic.twitter.com/8pBi6H0byL (https://twitter.com/DNS_ENZN/status/515720824070733824)
 

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Wow. It is a miracle anyone walked off that volcano. I do wonder about health issues later from the gases and ash inhaled.
 
I just heard on BBC Radio that it's now dark (night as well as ash) on the mountain and there are an unknown number of people still trapped up there. At least some of whom are unconscious. :(

Does anyone know why they'd be unconscious? Would it be the ash?
 
'Rescuers believe that at least 40 people are stranded near the 3,067 metre summit of Mount Ontake due to the lingering ash cloud.
Sohei Hanamura, crisis management official in the Nagano prefecture which controls the area said police, fire, and military rescue workers can only ascend the mountain on foot as it is too dangerous to deploy helicopters to the area.
Rescuers fear that the helicopters would suffer catastrophic engine damage if they ingested the highly abrasive volcanic dust.'image.jpg

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...volcano-threatens-blow-top.html#ixzz3EXRlgGpI
 
I'm going to ask a stpid question but aren't there usually signs that the activity in an active volcano are increasing before an eruption? As in why on earth would you go hike in an area where sesmic activity was on the increase?
 
gracehatter said:
I'm going to ask a stpid question but aren't there usually signs that the activity in an active volcano are increasing before an eruption? As in why on earth would you go hike in an area where sesmic activity was on the increase?
Click to expand...

Several of the articles mention that none of the expected levels of activity were detectable on this occasion, so warnings were not given

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/28/japanese-troops-search-volcano-traps-dozens

An official at the volcano division of the Japan Meteorological Agency said that, while there had been a rising number of small earthquakes detected at Ontake since 10 September, the eruption could not have been predicted easily.

“There were no other signs of an imminent eruption, such as earth movements or changes on the mountain’s surface,” the official told Reuters. “With only the earthquakes, we couldn’t really say this would lead to an eruption.”
Click to expand...
 
angela said:
Wow. It is a miracle anyone walked off that volcano. I do wonder about health issues later from the gases and ash inhaled.
Click to expand...

It's the sulphurous gases that are stopping rescuers getting up there to retrieve the dead, apparently. I've no idea what that does to a human being, but I guess it must be really bad.
 
I've toured a couple of 'quiet' volcanos. At Mt Etna in Sicily, it suddenly struck me that the huge rocks I was standing beside had been blasted out of the volcano - and if it decided to let rip a few more, I'd be dead.

It's easy to be fooled by mother nature, is all I'll say. Oh, and I shan't be touring any more volcanos, quiet or not.
 
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