Japanese Volcano Evacuees Allowed to Check on Homes
After experts ruled that a major eruption was unlikely, 215 people who had been evacuated from villages near a volcano in northern Japan checked on their homes and farms Monday.
Scientists believe that the volcanic activity on Mt. Usu on the northernmost main island of Hokkaido has stabilized, with water and magma mixing underground and causing steam to flow from numerous craters, Meteorological Agency official Akimichi Takagi said.
About 13,000 people have been barred from their homes for more than a week since the volcano erupted March 31 and April 1.
On Monday, residents from evacuated areas in the towns of Date and Sobetsu returned home for supervised, seven-hour visits. About two dozen people from Abuta, which has been completely evacuated, were allowed to go home for an hour.
Takagi said scientists are looking for a way to detect changes in the volcano in order to predict a major eruption, which could be accompanied by pyroclastic flow, a searing, fast-moving mix of rock and ash that incinerates everything in its path.
Officials say no lives are in danger. But farms and hot springs resorts--the backbone of the local economy--could be destroyed.
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