The volcanic eruption warning on Mount Hakoneyama was raised to Level 2 on May 6, meaning that people should stay clear of the crater on the mountain that straddles Kanagawa and Shizuoka prefectures.
The Japan Meteorological Agency had maintained a Level 1 alert although earthquakes around the mountain intensified in frequency and strength over the past 10 days. This is the first Level 2 alert for the mountain since the system was introduced in March 2009.
However, Sadayuki Kitagawa, the director of the agency’s Volcanology Division, said eruptions, if any, are expected to be small.
“We believe it is unlikely for a large-scale eruption to take place,” he said at a May 6 news conference. “The effects (of an eruption) will be limited to the Owakudani area, with minimal influence on the surrounding hot spring resorts. However, we do want everybody in the Hakone area to remain cautious.”
Owakudani is a popular tourist spot where many of the recent quakes have struck. The town government of Hakone, Kanagawa Prefecture, issued an evacution order shortly after 6 a.m. on May 6 for an area about 600 meters in diameter from the crater. No houses or hotels are located around that area.
Hakone Mayor Nobuo Yamaguchi emphasized the eruption warnings are limited to the Owakudani area.
“The volcanic activity is dealing a serious blow to our tourism,” he added.
Before Yamaguchi’s news conference, the town government announced that services of the Hakone Ropeway, which runs through the area, had been canceled for the day.
Although the town asked Hakone Ropeway Co. to only cancel services between Sounzan and Ubako stations, the operator decided to close the entire ropeway.
The Hakone government has also shut down a 1-kilometer section of Kanagawa prefectural road No. 734, which leads up to Owakudani. Hiking trails in Owakudani have been closed as well, along with tourist areas and souvenir shops.
The town government used the disaster management radio communication system to announce at 6:10 a.m. on May 6 that the road section will be closed. The restrictions started at 6:30 a.m.
A total of 116 earthquakes were recorded on May 5, more than triple the number the previous day and the most since volcanic activity started to increase in frequency on April 26.
Three of the quakes had a seismic intensity of 1 on the Japanese scale of 7, meaning that a person could feel the shaking. One earthquake that struck in the night had a focus about 5 kilometers underground, deeper than the two other quakes.
Such a tremor could cause heated groundwater near the surface to become unstable, triggering a phreatic explosion.
The quakes were the first of that intensity level on the mountain since April 26.
The agency previously stated that “volcanic activity is somewhat intensifying” on the mountain and warned people visiting the Owakudani area to be on alert because scalding water vapor could spew from the ground without warning.
The mountain experienced a small phreatic eruption in the 12th or 13th century, but no eruptions have since been recorded.
The Japan Meteorological Agency had maintained a Level 1 alert although earthquakes around the mountain intensified in frequency and strength over the past 10 days. This is the first Level 2 alert for the mountain since the system was introduced in March 2009.
However, Sadayuki Kitagawa, the director of the agency’s Volcanology Division, said eruptions, if any, are expected to be small.
“We believe it is unlikely for a large-scale eruption to take place,” he said at a May 6 news conference. “The effects (of an eruption) will be limited to the Owakudani area, with minimal influence on the surrounding hot spring resorts. However, we do want everybody in the Hakone area to remain cautious.”
Owakudani is a popular tourist spot where many of the recent quakes have struck. The town government of Hakone, Kanagawa Prefecture, issued an evacution order shortly after 6 a.m. on May 6 for an area about 600 meters in diameter from the crater. No houses or hotels are located around that area.
Hakone Mayor Nobuo Yamaguchi emphasized the eruption warnings are limited to the Owakudani area.
“The volcanic activity is dealing a serious blow to our tourism,” he added.
Before Yamaguchi’s news conference, the town government announced that services of the Hakone Ropeway, which runs through the area, had been canceled for the day.
Although the town asked Hakone Ropeway Co. to only cancel services between Sounzan and Ubako stations, the operator decided to close the entire ropeway.
The Hakone government has also shut down a 1-kilometer section of Kanagawa prefectural road No. 734, which leads up to Owakudani. Hiking trails in Owakudani have been closed as well, along with tourist areas and souvenir shops.
The town government used the disaster management radio communication system to announce at 6:10 a.m. on May 6 that the road section will be closed. The restrictions started at 6:30 a.m.
A total of 116 earthquakes were recorded on May 5, more than triple the number the previous day and the most since volcanic activity started to increase in frequency on April 26.
Three of the quakes had a seismic intensity of 1 on the Japanese scale of 7, meaning that a person could feel the shaking. One earthquake that struck in the night had a focus about 5 kilometers underground, deeper than the two other quakes.
Such a tremor could cause heated groundwater near the surface to become unstable, triggering a phreatic explosion.
The quakes were the first of that intensity level on the mountain since April 26.
The agency previously stated that “volcanic activity is somewhat intensifying” on the mountain and warned people visiting the Owakudani area to be on alert because scalding water vapor could spew from the ground without warning.
The mountain experienced a small phreatic eruption in the 12th or 13th century, but no eruptions have since been recorded.
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