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Japan Volcano Erupts Again on Island off Tokyo
A volcano on a small Japanese island south of Tokyo erupted again early on Thursday, spewing steam, smoke and ash into the air, and prompting local officials to urge nearby residents to evacuate.
The eruption from the summit of Mount Oyama on the island of Miyakejima, some 180 km (113 miles) south of Tokyo, took place at 6.59 a.m. (2159 GMT), the Meteorological Agency said.
There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage from the eruption. Some 4,000 people live on the small resort island.
The volcano has erupted several times since the end of June. It last erupted on July 15.
Although the eruptions seemed to have subsided slightly, local officials had recommended the evacuation of some 630 residents from 315 homes near the foot of the volcano.
"There has been no panic among the residents and the eruption is apparently subsiding. But as a precaution, we have urged residents to evacuate," one official said.
The island chain south of Tokyo has experienced tens of thousands of earthquakes in the past two months triggered by the increasingly active volcano.
Mount Oyama's last major eruption was in 1983 when it destroyed 400 houses and left a moonscape of rock, burning out nearby forests and destroying a lake. A lava flow from an eruption in 1940 killed 11 people and it erupted again in 1962.
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