Luck, instinct determined fates of volcano hikers

i'm not sure the last story was all that impressive, but the other ones definitely were, especially ms. ogawa. while others were taking snapshots, she ran for the hills, or down the hill literally. hate to hear stories of death so it's nice to hear one about survival. good job, AP.

In the volcanic explosivity index it would a level 2 at most. So in volcanic terms it was a moderate eruption. The plume would have a maximum height of 5 kilometres. This was the same type and level as the 1972 eruption of Mount Unzen. A VEI 3 would have been at least 1,000 times stronger. So the rather did not made an incorrect remark thought the way it was written may be a little misleading.

Some people were taking pictures of the plume rising,

Incredibly stupid. Including the person who took the YouTube footage.

I'd only stop to work out wind direction before making my way upwind, or thereabouts, as quickly as possible. (There's more than one trail to get down from if you have to, assuming you have the sense to bring a map)

Japan has 110 active volcanoes?

It is surprising that this sort of thing does not happen more often!

It's amazing the fine line between life and death. There may be a person very similar to Ms Ogawa up on that mountain, with the same experience, who reacted the same way and was unlucky enough to cop a boulder. I note though, that she ran past a person with a leg injury to 'report it to the authorities'. I guess you don't know how you would react in that situation, but I'd like to think I wouldn't do that - that I would try to get them down. But if it was a badly broken leg, you'd be struggling.

Wind direction isn't going to matter much if there's a pyroclastic flow. It would roll downhill very quickly with little to no deviation caused by wind. Being on the slope of a volcano when it erupts has got to be like getting caught in a massive earthquake: you want to flee, but all your destination options are almost as dangerous (if not more so) as standing still.

Nature is amazing. And it can be dangerous to life and limb. And that's what's part of it's amazement

I spent a lot of time when I lived in Japan hiking in mountains and meeting people. Many times the conversation turned to the topic of danger how to avoid it and the cost.

Everyone I talk to welcome the risk. It's part of living. Taking risks to enjoy nature it's worth it. Imagine a life never having been at the volcano. Or never having seen a beautiful wave. It just wouldn't be worth it