KAGOSHIMA (Kyodo) The Sakurajima volcano in Kagoshima Prefecture erupted Tuesday for the 500th time this year, raising the possibility that the mountain will have its most active year on record, topping the 548 eruptions of 2009.
The Kagoshima Observatory confirmed the 500th eruption at 2:02 a.m. At this pace, it will have the largest number of eruptions since officials started keeping comparable records in 1956, it said.
All 500 have been minor eruptions at the Showa vent, which is at about the 800-meter level, and no eruptions have been observed so far this year at the relatively large Minamidake vent, at about 1,000 meters, the observatory said.
The Showa vent has been active since June 2006.
"We see no precursor of a large eruption that would come with a lava spout, but the level of magma movement has been gradually rising," an observatory official said. "There is a big possibility that the volcano will have more than 1,000 eruptions this year."
