The Sept. 27 eruption of Mount Ontake — where the search for missing climbers has been suspended until spring after 56 people were confirmed dead — has triggered calls for beefing up the system for monitoring volcanoes around the country as well as emergency protection of local residents and climbers.
These measures also need to be accompanied by people's increased awareness of the risk from volcanic eruptions — which, as the latest disaster reminds us, could happen anytime without many warning signs.
While the eruption of the 3, 067-meter mountain resulted in the largest number of casualties from a volcanic disaster since 1926, it was a relatively minor eruption in volcanological terms. But it hit at the worst time.