Japan has declared a maximum alert for the eruption of the Sakurajima volcano

La Agencia Meteorológica de Japón (JMA) declared this Sunday the level of maximum alert and the mandatory evacuation of the populations close to the volcano ‘Sakurajima’, which entered an eruption around 8:05 pm (local time).

El Volcán, uno de los más actives de Japónlocated in the prefecture of Kagoshima, south east of the countryy por ahora no se tiene constancia de hurtidos durante la eruption.

However, las authorities have decided to declare the level of alert 5, the highestafter warning that the volcano is expelling volcanic stones to a distance of more than 2.5 km, according to informa la cadena pública japonesa NHK.

According to local media, this is the second time that the JMA has issued an eruption alert of Level 5 for volcanoes in the country since It was issued on the island of Kuchi-Nagarabujima in the prefecture of Kagoshima in 2015, and for the second time since the Eruption Alert Level was introduced in 2007.

The closest residential area, the city of Kagoshima, is on the other side of the volcano bay and about three kilometers away, but people can still be ordered to evacuate there.

The images from the video of the eruption on Sunday showed what seemed to be a red mass that flowed on one side of the volcano, with red projectiles shooting while the smoke, difficult to see in the dark, was rising, commented the agency Reuters.

Antes de la eruption estaba en el nivel tres, que prohíbe la entrada a la montaña. “The residential areas of the city of Arimura and the city of Furusato within the three kilometers of the crater of the summit of Sakurajima should be on maximum alert”dijo la JMA.

According to the city of Kagoshima, there are 77 residents in the two towns. No hubo informes immediatos de daños, según la emisora ​​pública NHK.

Japón has dozens of active volcanoes and is en encuentra en el llamado “Anillo de Fuego” del Pacíficowhere a large proportion of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are recorded in the world.

Sakurajima is one of the most active volcanoes in Japan and eruptions of different levels are frequent, which has transformed it into an important tourist attraction. En 2019 arrojó cenizas a 5,5 km de altura.

ERUPCIONES CONTEMPORÁNEAS

Sakurajima was previously an island, but due to previous eruptions, it is now united to a peninsula.

El 11 de enero de 1914 se produjo una violenta erupción, que acabó con el siglo de inactividad de este volcán.

El gigante reanudó su actividad en 1955, y ha estado entrando en erupción casi constantly desde entonces. Every year thousands of small explosions are registered, which expel ashes to a height of several kilometers. En 1960 se estableció el Observatorio del Volcán Sakurajima para controlar y estudiar las eruptiones.

One of the reasons for the establishment of this institution was to take care of the populated area that is located a short distance from the volcano. The city of Kagoshima has several evacuation routes and refuges in case of an event like the one recorded today.

El 10 March 2009 el volcán entró en erupción y expulsó por su cráter lenguas de lava y cenizas, sin causar daños personales. En 2010 beat his record of annual explosions (superó las 548 del año 2009); algunas de ellas expulsaron material a casi 5 kilometers de altitud.

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