Sakurajima volcano is about to erupt threatening 600,000 Japanese

The Sakurajima volcano, Japan, will probably erupt violently, threatening to affect 600,000 people in the surrounding area.

Volcano is about to erupt, Japan raises warning level to level 4

Based on the new earthquakes and the rapid rise of the mountain, the Japan Meteorological Bureau said Sakurajima is preparing to repeat the violent eruption that caused numerous casualties in 1914. Agency This raised the alert level to level 4 , meaning that people living in the neighborhood need to be willing to evacuate if the situation continues to go bad.

An eruption of Sakurajima volcano in 2013. (Photo: Martin Rietze.)

Currently, at least 4,000 people live on the island with volcanoes, but depending on the wind, ash from the eruption can affect 600,000 people in Kagoshima City 10 km away. Government officials are also concerned that a major eruption may force workers to leave the restarted Sendai nuclear plant, 50 km from Sakurajima.

Sakurajima is one of the most active volcanoes in Japan, with hundreds of small explosions each year. A series of earthquakes originating from Sakurajima recently concentrated in the area a few kilometers from the southern peak of Minamidake. Since yesterday morning, improvised sensors mounted on the mountain have shown a big change with the amount of lava rising in the mountain. In 2013, Sakurajima created a massive eruption that caused fly ash to fly over 6 km.

Sakurajima is actually part of the Aira volcanic range in Kyushu. All of Aira's activities over the past few thousand years affected Sakurajima, including large explosions in 1914, 1781 and from 1471 to 1976. However, at the present time, there is no signaling evidence. a great eruption is about to happen like the explosion that caused the Aira volcano to form 22,000 years ago.