bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

sponsorType

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Associated Press

The horseshoe-shaped string of active volcanoes bounding the Pacific Ocean has lived up to its Ring of Fire name in the past month, sparking mass evacuations in Indonesia and Vanuatu and now setting parts of southwestern Japan on edge.
The 450 or so volcanoes that make up the Pacific Ring of Fire are an outline of where the massive Pacific Plate is grinding against other plates that form the Earth’s crust, creating a 40,000km-long zone prone to frequent earthquakes and eruptions.

The Shinmoedake volcano in southwestern Japan started erupting on Wednesday for the first time in about six years.
According to Japanese broadcaster TBS, an ash plume rose 1,700m from the crater on Thursday and ash fell on cities and towns in Miyazaki prefecture.
Videos showed students wearing helmets and masks on their way to an junior school at the foot of Shinmoedake.
The Japan Meteorological Agency is warning that hot ash and gas clouds known as pyroclastic flows could reach 2km from the crater.
It raised the volcanic alert level from 2 to 3 on a scale of 5. Level 3 warns people to not approach the volcano.

More than 140,000 people fled Mount Agung on the Indonesian island of Bali after its alert status was raised to the highest level on September 22. Hundreds of tremors daily from the mountain indicate magma is rising inside it, prompting authorities to warn that a powerful eruption is possible.




The volcano spewed lava and deadly fast-moving clouds of boiling hot ash, gas and rocks when it last erupted in 1963, killing more than 1,100 people.

A new eruption is likely to kill fewer people because officials have imposed a large no-go zone around the crater but it could paralyse tourism, which many on the island rely on for their livelihoods.

Indonesia has more than a tenth of the world’s active volcanoes and another two are currently erupting. Sinabung in northern Sumatra is shooting plumes of ash high into the atmosphere almost daily and Dukono in the Maluku island chain is also periodically erupting.


The entire population of a Pacific island was evacuated in the space of a few days in late September and early October to escape the belching Manaro volcano. The 11,000 residents of Ambae island were moved by every boat available to other islands in Vanuatu, a Pacific archipelago nation, where they’re living in schools, churches and tents.

Officials have since downgraded the volcano’s danger level but say the population must wait at least two more weeks to return. The island’s water supply and crops have been affected by volcanic ash and acid rain but most villages were spared major damage. Previous eruptions of the volcano have lasted a month to six weeks.


Mount Vesuvius eruption turned man’s brain into glass. Here’s how it happened

Multiple earthquakes near Greek island of Santorini shut schools and put residents on edge

Indonesia’s relentless Mount Ibu erupts 1,000 times this month, displacing thousands

One of the world’s most active volcanoes – Hawaii’s Kilauea – is erupting again

Volcanoes

The rumbling Ring of Fire putting parts of Asia in peril

Smoke rises from the Shinmoedake volcano on the border of Kagoshima and Miyazaki prefectures, southwestern Japan. Photo: Kyodo/AP

FILE - This Oct. 1, 2017, file photo provided by GeoHazards Division, Vanuatu Meteorological and GeoHazards Department, shows an aerial view of the volcanic cone that has formed in Lake Vui near the summit of Ambae Island, Vanuatu. The horse shoe shaped string of active volcanos bounding the Pacific Ocean has lived up to its "Ring of Fire" calling card in the past month, sparking mass evacuations in Indonesia and Vanuatu and now setting parts of south-western Japan on edge. The 450 or so volcanos that make up the Ring of Fire are an outline of where the massive Pacific Plate is grinding against other plates that make up the earth's crust, creating a 40,000 kilometer-long (25,000 mile) zone prone to frequent earthquakes and eruptions. (Brad Scott/GeoHazards Divison, VMGD via AP, File)

In this Oct. 8, 2017, file photo, children play at a beach with Mount Agung volcano seen in the background during sunset in Karangasem, Bali, Indonesia. The horse shoe shaped string of active volcanos bounding the Pacific Ocean has lived up to its "Ring of Fire" calling card in the past month, sparking mass evacuations in Indonesia and Vanuatu and now setting parts of south-western Japan on edge. The 450 or so volcanos that make up the Ring of Fire are an outline of where the massive Pacific Plate is grinding against other plates that make up the earth's crust, creating a 40,000 kilometer-long (25,000 mile) zone prone to frequent earthquakes and eruptions. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati, File)

Residential houses are covered with volcanic ashes in Takaharu town, Miyazaki prefecture, southwestern Japan, after the Shinmoedake volcano erupted Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. The volcano erupted Thursday for the first time in six years and spread ash in nearby cities and towns. (Tomoaki Ito/Kyodo News via AP)

Volcanic smoke rises from the Shinmoedake volcano after its eruption in the border of Kagoshima and Miyazaki prefectures, southwestern Japan, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. The volcano erupted Thursday for the first time in six years and spread ash in nearby cities and towns. (Tomoaki Ito/Kyodo News via AP)