Japan Volcano Erupts For Third Day

Mount Asama, one of Japan's largest and most active volcanoes, erupted almost continuously for a third straight day Thursday, spewing molten rocks and gray smoke into the air and setting off more than 1,000 tiny earthquakes.

The mountain rumbled throughout the day, propelling red-hot rocks nearly 1,000 feet into the air and sending columns of smoke rose nearly 4,000 feet above the volcanic crater, the Meteorological Agency said.

"The small eruptions are nearly continuous," it said.

The volcano also rained ash on Karuizawa, a resort town about six miles away. By Thursday evening, the eruptions caused 1,054 tiny tremors, the agency estimated.

The Meteorological Agency maintained its activity rating for Mount Asama at 3 on a scale of 5, designating it a small- to medium-sized eruption.

The agency, worried about a bigger eruption, will set up more gauges to record seismic activity on the mountain, agency official Jun Funasaki said Thursday.

The 8,474-foot mountain is about 90 miles west of Tokyo and about 30 miles southeast of Nagano, home of the 1998 Winter Olympics.

Thursday's eruptions followed about two-dozen on Wednesday and three small ones Tuesday. On Sept. 1, a medium-sized eruption poured molten rock, ash, and smoke down the mountainside.

Mount Asama has had several minor eruptions in recent years. In 1947, molten rocks struck and killed 11 mountaineers on its slopes.

The mountain's last major eruption was in 1783.

Japan has 108 active volcanoes and lies in the "Pacific Ring of Fire" - a string of volcanoes and fault lines outlining the Pacific Ocean.