Rescue Efforts Resume After Mount Ontake Volcano Eruption

By Allie Goolrick
Published: September 27,2014


 
About 550 emergency personnel resumed rescue efforts Sunday after a volcano in central Japan erupted on Saturday.
According to Japanese news network NHK, seven people on the mountain remained unconscious, six of whom were buried beneath volcanic ash.
Mount Ontake erupted just before noon local time without warning, sending a thick plume of ash into the sky on an otherwise clear fall day and causing people on the mountain to flee. The 10,062-foot peak on the main Japanese island of Honshu is popular for climbers and outdoor enthusiasts and many of the injured were hiking or admiring fall foliage displays in the area.
"It was like thunder," a woman told broadcaster NHK of the first eruption at the volcano in seven years. "I heard boom, boom, then everything went dark."
NHK reported that around 40 people were still taking shelter in four huts, 42 others were injured and about 230 made it down the mountain. NHK said that one woman was initially confirmed dead, but the statement was later retracted.
Rescue workers were planning to try to reach the injured on foot after daybreak Sunday, after officials determined low visibility made it too dangerous to use helicopters to extract the injured.
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A YouTube video shown on Japanese TV shows shocked climbers rushing away from the peak as a thick cloud of ash emerges above and then engulfs them. According to Channel News Asia, the fierce eruption buried several cabins near the summit in ash and shattered windows.
NHK reported officials stated that as of 5:50 a.m. Sunday, the volcano was still erupting and officials warned that falling rock and ash could extend in a 2 ½ mile radius from the volcano.
NHK Journalist Mikio Oguro said that the smoke and ash was so thick it reduced visibility to zero.
"Massive ash suddenly fell and the entire area was totally covered with ash," he said by phone. He and his crew had to use headlights to find a lodge to take refuge. "My colleagues later told me that they thought they might die."
Japan's meteorological agency raised the alert level for Mount Ontake to 3 on a scale of 1 to 5 and warned people to stay away from the mountain.