The Japan Meteorological Agency raised alert level for Mount Shindake from 3 to 5, the first maximum level since the alert system was established in December 2007. Level 3 means that restrictions are in place on approaching the mountain. Evacuation is called for when the alert level reaches 5.
Residents of Kuchinoerabujima Island were safe after a volcanic eruption unleashed a plume of smoke reaching about 9,000 meters high and sent a pyroclastic flow to the island’s coastline on May 29.
According to a Kagoshima prefectural government task force, residents had already escaped to evacuation centers on the island in the southern Kyushu region. They were transported by ferry to Yakushima Island.
Kuchinoerabujima island has a total area of about 36 square kilometers and is located about 12 kilometers west of Yakushima island.
