SHINMOE'S VOLCANO IN JAPAN AWAKEN WITH VENGENCE

Erupting Mount Shinmoe volcano spews soot and stone

TOKYO, Japan - Egypt is rocking with Thousands of people started to gather in various locations in Cairo and other Egyptian cities early Tuesday, ahead of what protest organisers were hoping would turn into a “march of a million” by day’s end.
Foreigners fled the unrest in Egypt, amid scenes of chaos at Cairo’s international airport, boarding special flights home or to nearby Mediterranean airports.
However, in Japan more than 1,000 Japanese of a town near an erupting volcano are traumatized by large rocks falling in their area. Mount Shinmoe's on Japan’s southern Kyushu Island (first major eruption in almost 200 years) is sending plumes of ash and rocks kilometers into the sky.
The eruption, has disrupted flights and train services and sparked warnings about another, even more powerful blast. More than 600 people have already been evacuated.

• Vulcanologist say a giant lava dome on the volcano has now grown to more than 500 meters in diameter.
• For some people living near the volcano it is nothing more than a nuisance, but for others it is like a biblical curse. With 108 active volcanoes, or 10 per cent of the world's total, Japan shakes precariously on the infamous Pacific Rim of Fire.
• The Japanese are wearily familiar with eruptions like Mount Shinmoe's, but scientists warn there could be worse to come.
• In the past nine months vulcanologist estimate seven million cubic meters of magma has accumulated in two vast reservoirs underneath the peak and small pyroclastic flows, or super-heated clouds of gas traveling at up to 700 kilometers per hour, have been seen sweeping down Mount Shinmoe.

The volcano's behavior is said to be eerily similar to its belligerent demeanor 300 years ago, when it belched and bellowed on and off for 18 months.
For the people living around Shinmoedake, this is just the latest biblical-style cataclysm.

Source:Reuters