No recovery of volcano victims due to eruption fears

I hope they can get people up there soon and recover the bodies before clearing out altogether. I feel sorry to those with loved ones still unaccounted for.

The more I read about this, though, the more I think that they COULD have actually kept people from being there at the time the volcano blew. According to other news, there meteorological agency issued a report on increased activity on Sept. 11th, which was relayed to the town of Otaki, and who relayed it to mountain huts, but the local government in their wisdom decided not to warn or caution any climbers since the Agency had not increased the danger level. The explosion could not have been predicted, but clearly there was an increase in activity, and that is indicative of danger. Sure, it would have cost a couple of weeks of tourist revenue if they had cut hikes altogether, or people could have turned away voluntarily if warned, and maybe this could have been avoided.

As much as I'm sure families are agonizingly waiting on this recovery, there's been more than enough death at that site already, it's not a reason to increase the death toll further... Wait til it's safe...

"The explosion could not have been predicted, but clearly there was an increase in activity, and that is indicative of danger. Sure, it would have cost a couple of weeks of tourist revenue if they had cut hikes altogether, or people could have turned away voluntarily if warned, and maybe this could have been avoided."

Hindsight is 20/20.

I can't imagine what their families gohng through now,simply so sad a tragedy like this happened when everyone in a good mood

Yeah let's blame santa clause or the easter bunny

The explosion could not have been predicted, but clearly there was an increase in activity, and that is indicative of danger.

Hindsight has 20/20 vision. It's easy to go back to some point in time (two weeks ago, in this case), point to it, and say, "It's obvious to the most ignorant person that they should have seen this coming!" What the "other news" probably left out was how many OTHER times there has been "increased activity" under the volcano, but no eruption. Vulcanologists have to tread a thin line: Too many false alarms and nobody will pay attention when a big one really IS coming. Increased seismic activity alone might be cause for watching the volcano more closely for OTHER signs of the volcano waking up, but apparently no other tell-tales were detected prior to the eruption. Had the scientists also observed something like a rising lava dome, I'm sure the alarm would have been raised to restrict access to the volcano.

Two days too late, always the story, read Breaking news on the BBC, ABC then I can in Japan. Why?

Those people should have never been there, but again two days too late.

I wonder how many times there has been seismic activity that subsided with no eruption? Taking that into account, it may have been seen as not that unusual.

And yet the government feels that a volcanic eruption near a nuclear facility would be no problem at all.

Onniyama, which nuclear plant are you referring?

It was mentioned that the government was considering restarting two nuclear plants near active volcanos and stated that eruption would not endanger them. So go back though the last couple of days headlines and I think that you will locate the article.

Just more fearmongering.

Well, Sendai Nuclear plant is ~50 NNW of Sakurajima, actually quite far away and unless Sakurajima suddenly were to transfor into a Mt St Helens level volcano poses no threat to Sendai Nuclear. Check the geography.