The largest active volcano in Japan reminds humanity of the irresistible power of nature.
Mount Aso speweed smoke and ash 2,000 meters into the sky Monday morning just months after its last eruption, triggering the cancellation of no less than 30 flights.
"Flights have been canceled across southern Japan after the country's largest active volcano erupted, spewing thick clouds of ash high into the atmosphere," CNN reported, noting that Kumamoto Airport's air traffic was particularly affected. The said airport is 880 kilometers (550 miles) southwest from Tokyo and 20 kilometers from the volcano itself.
"Officials closed a four-kilometer-wide area around the crater and evacuated about 30 people," the news agency went on. "The agency also issued a level three warning on its five-level scale, advising travelers to stay away from the volcano."
"We found that the smoke rose not only vertically but also horizontally. The eruption could have pyroclastic flows," said meteorologist Sadayuki Kitagawa.
"The volcano is on Japan's southernmost island of Kyushu, with a peak at 1,592m above sea level," Mashable noted. "Japan has more than 100 active volcanos, lying along a horseshoe-shaped series of faultlines around the Pacific Ocean where 90% of all earthquakes occur."
Just last year, the eruption of Mount Ontake, which is southwest of Tokyo, took 57 lives, making it one of the deadliest eruptions in Japan in the last 20 years. Just in June this year, search parties had gone back to the volcano to continue searching for the bodies of six climbers still missing.
The Mount Aso eruption had no casualties so far and there were no reports of injuries in the wake of the rumbling.
"We are doing our best to secure people's lives by working together with local governments," Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told the press in Tokyo, according to Yahoo! News.
This recent eruption, which is not surprising considering Japan is lying above the series of faultlines surrounding the Pacific Ocean, has attracted the attention of geologists and meteorologists as volcanic activity can impact global weather and aviation.
"Under certain conditions, ash clouds from eruptions like Aso can traverse large ocean expanses and result in air route disruptions, delays, or cancellations," Forbes' Marshall Shepherd observed. "Current weather models suggest that an emerging low pressure system moving into the region of Mount Aso will bring rain and lighter wind conditions."
"This factor, along with the relatively shallow injection of ash, will likely limit global impacts," he added.
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