A day after the eruption of Mount Shindake caused the evacuation of a small island off Kyushu, evacuees on Saturday began bracing for a long stay away from home as the Meteorological Agency warned of more eruptions to come.
The agency said Mount Shindake's eruption on Kuchinoerabu Island, some 100 km off the southern tip of Kyushu, apparently stopped on Saturday morning but warned that "large-scale" explosions might follow, calling on all affected to stay alert.
Kyoto University volcano expert Masato Iguchi, a member of the agency's Coordinating Committee for the Prediction of Volcanic Eruptions who on Saturday surveyed the volcano aboard a helicopter, said the latest round of activity is still at an early stage, considering the scale of Friday's eruption and the estimated amount of magma underneath.