Japan's weather agency warns of possible eruption of Hokkaido volcano, raises alert level

The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) on Tuesday raised its alert level for Mount Meakandake located on Japan's northern island of Hokkaido, warning that the volcano is potentially active and an eruption might occur.

The 1,500-meter high active stratovolcano, located in the Akan National Park in Hokkaido -- the tallest mountain in the Akan Volcanic Complex -- is a popular hiking spot for both tourists and locals with hiking now being in peak season.

As of 4:00 p.m. JST, the JMA raised the alert level from 1 on its 5-point scale, which states that those in the vicinity should: "be mindful that the volcano is potentially active," to level 2, warning: "do not approach the crater."

The volcano, in fact, has a triple crater at its summit and consists of nine overlapping cones, which prefectural officials have said is a lure for visitors as the summit offers stunning vistas of the region and the lakes in the craters, and is close to the popular hot spring resort at Lake Akan, which is less than 10 km away from the volcano.

Local officials, however, said the hot spring resort itself would not be impacted by the raised alert level, although hiking within 500 meters of the crater has been restricted.

According to the weather agency here, there has been an increase in volcanic earthquakes in the vicinity of Mt. Meakandake since the weekend, with smoke spotted near the volcano's craters.

With hiking season in Japan now in peak as it runs from early June to mid-October, the JMA has increased its monitoring of the nation's some 110 active volcanoes, particularly in light of increased seismic activity of late, resulting, most notably, in the eruption of Mount Ontake, which straddles both Nagano and Gifu prefectures on Sept. 27 last year, that killed around 60 hikers.

More recent eruptions of Mount Hakone in the popular hot spring resort area of the same name, and increased activity recorded at Mt. Fuji, Japan's highest mountain with its peak at almost 4,000 meters and located just 100 km southwest of Tokyo, as well as at Mt. Io in Kyushu, the south-westernmost of Japan's main islands, to name just a few, have cause Japan to up its disaster- preparedness.

As well as the JMA's real-time alerts for all weather related disasters and increased monitoring of all volcanoes in Japan, as well as mobile service providers offering advanced earthquake warnings through cell phone applications, the Japan Mountain Guides Association (JMGA) has also started providing real-time weather related information to hikers as of this month.

Hikers and climbers are advised by JMGA to register their planned routes with the association before they embark and can view up-to-the-hour conditions on the mountain through JMGA's website, which covers 4,000 square km of terrain across Japan and is accurate to within a square kilometer.

The service was launched in the wake of the deadly eruption of Mt. Ontake, as rescue personnel and first-responders' emergency operations were severely hampered by not knowing how many people were on the mountain at the time of the fatal eruption.

Earlier this year revised legislation was passed by the government to require hikers and climbers to register their information with the relevant authorities, such as JMGA, before their journeys. Endi