Volcano in Japan erupts for 6th time since last week

Fukuoka (Japan), Feb 2: A volcano in southwestern Japan erupted early Wednesday, the sixth eruption since last week, spewing columns of smoke up to a height of around 2,000 meters.

Shinmoe Peak in the Kirishima volcanic group on the border of Kagoshima and Miyazaki prefectures erupted at 5:25 am local time. But the Fukuoka District Meteorological Observatory of the Japan Meteorological Agency said it could not confirm any avalanche of volcanic debris from the crater, adding that it received no reports of damages from the areas around the 1,421-meter-high volcano.

The latest eruption follows the one at 11:19 pm on Tuesday, which also spewed columns of smoke up to a height of around 2,000 m.

The meteorological agency will inspect the areas scattered with volcanic debris on Wednesday from the air, it said.

The agency had warned that volcanic debris could fall on areas within 4 kilometers of the crater. The local observatory said an infrasonic meter located about 3 km southwest of the crater had recorded air pressure disturbance, measuring 299.6 pascals.

Kyodo