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Volcano Eruption Catches Many by Surprise
Mount Ontake erupted just before noon local time without warning, sending a thick plume of ash into the sky on an otherwise clear fall day and causing people on the mountain to flee. The 10,062-foot peak on the main Japanese island of Honshu is popular for climbers and outdoor enthusiasts and many of the injured were hiking or admiring fall foliage displays in the area.
"It was like thunder," a woman told broadcaster NHK of the first eruption at the volcano in seven years. "I heard boom, boom, then everything went dark."
Over 250 people were initially trapped on the mountain, but most were able to make it down by Saturday night. According to Japanese news network NHK, one woman was initially confirmed dead, but the statement was later retracted.
The 40 or so injured remain trapped in mountain lodges at the summit because they are unable to descend Mount Ontake due to injury, said Sohei Hanamura, a crisis management official in Nagano prefecture. At least 32 people are seriously injured and 10 unconscious, according to Reuters. Lodge managers were familiar with first aid procedures and were communicating with rescue officials in town.
Rescue workers were planning to try to reach the injured on foot after daybreak Sunday, after officials determined low visibility made it too dangerous to use helicopters to extract the injured.
(MORE: Iceland's Volcano Sulfur Fumes Now Bother People 800 Miles Away)
A YouTube video shown on Japanese TV shows shocked climbers rushing away from the peak as a thick cloud ash emerges above and then engulfs them. According to Channel News Asia, the fierce eruption buried several cabins near the summit in ash and shattered windows.
Officials warned that falling rock and ash could extend in a two-and-a-half-mile radius from the volcano, NBC News reports.
NHK Journalist Mikio Oguro said that the smoke and ash was so thick it reduced visibility to zero.
"Massive ash suddenly fell and the entire area was totally covered with ash," he said by phone. He and his crew had to use headlights to find a lodge to take refuge. "My colleagues later told me that they thought they might die."
Japan's meteorological agency raised the alert level for Mount Ontake to 3 on a scale of 1 to 5 and warned people to stay away from the mountain.
MORE ON WEATHER.COM: Guatemalan Volcano Eruption
Associated Press
Lava flows from the Volcan de Fuego, or Volcano of Fire, as seen from the town of Palin, south of Guatemala City, late Thursday, Sept. 13, 2012. The long-simmering volcano exploded with a series of powerful eruptions outside one of Guatemala's most famous tourist attractions.
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