Japanese island residents ordered to leave

From staff and wire reports

TOKYO -- Some 1,500 residents remaining on an island south of Tokyo have been ordered by authorities to evacuate, two days after a volcano erupted for the eighth time since early July.

Only police, fire and municipal personnel -- about 600 people -- will remain on the island of Miyake, after experts concluded that further eruptions from the island's volcano, Mount Oyama, could result in fiery volcanic flows.

This flow is a superheated mixture of volcanic dust, ash and gas that can travel at high speeds, destroying whatever is in its path.

INTERACTIVE GALLERY Scenes from a threatened island View images     MESSAGE BOARD Nature's wrath

More than 2,300 residents of the island, including its children, have already left the island voluntarily. Eruptions blanketed the island with ash, prompting warnings that heavy rains could set off mudslides.

The order was issued after authorities determined they could not ensure the safety of the remaining residents. The Tokyo metropolitan government, under whose jurisdiction the island lies, is preparing to accommodate the evacuees. Shelters have been set up and ships dispatched to Miyake.

Fears of earthquake in Tokyo

Experts said shifts in huge underground pools of magma are responsible for the recent volcanic and seismic activity on Miyake, about 190 kilometers (118 miles) from Tokyo, and surrounding islands in the Izu chain.

The earthquakes have generated fears that a big earthquake could strike Tokyo.

The Japanese capital on Friday marked the anniversary of a 1923 earthquake that killed 150,000 people.

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori and about 5.5 million people across Japan took part in annual drills to commemorate the quake.

They culminate on Sunday with a massive military rescue exercise that has been criticized by some as giving the nation's Self-Defense Forces too big a role.

Some 7,100 troops will help set up food and bathing facilities, open up blocked roads and transport medical supplies at 10 sites in the city. Only about 500 troops took part in previous drills.

Earlier this year, 13,000 people were ordered to evacuate after the Mount Usu volcano in northern Japan erupted for the first time in 22 years.

In 1986, 10,000 residents on Oshima Island in the Izu chain were evacuated after Mount Mihara erupted.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Volcano Research Center (University of Tokyo)
  • Current eruptions in Japan
International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry
   of the Earth's Interior (IAVCEI)
Volcano Information Center (VIC)
Volcanoes!
Smithsonian Institution - Global Volcanism Program

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