Japan Times Online.
KAGOSHIMA (Kyodo) The Sakurajima volcano in Kagoshima Prefecture
erupted Tuesday for the 500th time this year, raising the
possibility that the mountain will have its most active year on
record, topping the 548 eruptions of 2009.
The Kagoshima Observatory confirmed the 500th eruption at 2:02
a.m. At this pace, it will have the largest number of eruptions
since officials started keeping comparable records in 1956, it
said.
All 500 have been minor eruptions at the Showa vent, which is at
about the 800-meter level, and no eruptions have been observed so
far this year at the relatively large Minamidake vent, at about
1,000 meters, the observatory said.
The Showa vent has been active since June 2006.
"We see no precursor of a large eruption that would come with a
lava spout, but the level of magma movement has been gradually
rising," an observatory official said. "There is a big possibility
that the volcano will have more than 1,000 eruptions this
year."
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