11,000 Flee Volcano on Japan Island : Evacuation Ordered as Lava Pours Toward Oshima’s Main Town

Authorities today ordered the evacuation of all 11,000 residents of a small island near Tokyo after an erupting volcano split open and sent molten lava flowing toward a town.

The Japan Broadcasting Corp. reported about a third of the residents of Oshima Island had left by 10 p.m. and that the rest, as well as an undetermined number of tourists, would be evacuated by ship by early Saturday.

There were no reports of injuries directly related to the eruption. An elderly man died on the way to a rescue vessel, but the cause of death was undetermined, according to the Maritime Safety Agency.

Ships Ordered In

The Tokyo metropolitan government ordered that the people be evacuated and that all available ships be sent to the 35-square-mile island 70 miles south of Tokyo. Four Maritime Self Defense Force vessels, 22 Maritime Safety Agency boats and four ferry boats were dispatched to Oshima, according to authorities and news reports.

Tokyo Metropolitan Police said that molten lava was headed toward the island’s largest town, Motomachi, and that about 40 forest fires had broken out.

The evacuation was ordered after hundreds of earthquakes rocked the island today and the side of Mt. Mihara cracked open in a 600-yard-long fissure. The Central Meteorological Agency said that volcanic rock was hurled almost 2,000 feet into the air and that a column of black smoke reached more than two miles high.

The Japan Broadcasting Corp. showed live footage of the volcano taken from a helicopter. Bright orange flames spewed in a line near the mountain, and close-up shots taken from the helicopter and by an unmanned television camera near the site showed explosive bursts of flames resembling fireworks spewing from several openings at once.

Restaurant, Shrine Burned

The 2,349-foot Mt. Mihara began erupting Saturday. Lava started flowing out of the crater Wednesday, burning a restaurant and small shrine near the crater’s rim and damaging some crops, but authorities said residential areas were not in danger. The flow had slowed Thursday before the series of quakes today.

The earthquakes began at 2:17 p.m. One registered 5 and at least two quakes registered 4 on the Japanese scale of 7, the agency said. An earthquake registering 5 on the Japanese scale is considered very strong and is capable of cracking walls in houses and overturning large objects.

Mt. Mihara last erupted in 1974 but caused no damage.

About 70% of Oshima Island consists of uninhabited forests and fields. The island is part of the seven-island Izu chain, one of the world’s most active volcanic areas.