Japan raises alert around Aso volcano after tremors increase

Tokyo, Feb 24 (EFE).- Japan’s Meteorological Agency raised the volcanic alert for Mount Aso, in southwestern Japan, after detecting an increase in tremors in the volcano Thursday morning.

The agency declared a Level 3 volcanic alert in the area, on a scale where the maximum is 5, urging the population not to approach the vicinity of the volcano due to the risk of an eruption and the expulsion of pyroclastic flows and rockfall within a radius of 2 kilometers.

Mount Aso, in the Kumamoto prefecture, erupted on Oct. 20 and although it did not record human or material damage, expelled smoke that traveled more than 1 kilometer around it and reached heights of up to 3,500 meters.

After the eruption four months ago, Japanese authorities maintained the alert at Level 3, but lowered it to Level 2 on Nov. 18.

Mount Aso, about 1,600 meters high, is located in a sparsely populated area within a national park on the island of Kyushu, in southwestern Japan.

Japan is located on the Pacific Ring of Fire and has some 110 active volcanoes within its territory, according to the definition of the agency, which considers “active” any volcano that “has erupted in the last 10,000 years or where have recently registered fumaroles.” EFE

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