Hokkaido residents who remain at evacuation facilities following the eruption of Mount Usu in late March expressed concern Tuesday for the inhabitants of Miyake Island, south of Tokyo, following the Meteorological Agency's prediction of an imminent volcanic eruption there earlier in the day.
Among those at an evacuation facility in the town of Abuta, Hokkaido, was 65-year-old housewife Atsuko Miura, who has been living there for three months.
Miura, acknowledging the similarity of their situations, expressed sympathy for the Miyake islanders. "Their situation is scary because in the case of Miyake Island, there may be a stream of lava."
Toshimasa Tsukahachi, a 50-year-old hotel employee, said he hopes there will be no eruption. The islanders must be suffering mental anguish, considering that "evacuation of an island is not easy," he said. Abuta Mayor Yoshio Nagasaki said he believes the rapid provision of advance information on emergency measures for the island was made possible due to the precedent set by Mount Usu's recent series of eruptions.