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Highway near Mt. Usu volcano reopens after 15 months

ABUTA, Japan - Land, Infrastructure and Transport Minister Chikage Ogi (C) and other officials on June 30 cut tape in front of a tollhouse in Abuta, Hokkaido to reopen a trunk highway section near Mt. Usu. The section was reopened after a 15 month closure due to repairs to damage caused by eruptions from the 732-meter volcano on the northernmost main Japanese island.

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Evacuation order lifted for residents near Mt. Usu

DATE, Japan - Returning home July 18, Mineko Tomiyama looks up at the ceiling of her living room which has been heavily damaged by volcanic rocks from Mt. Usu. The town of Abuta in southwestern Hokkaido, where her house is located, lifted the evacuation order for 285 residents of the west side of the Toya hot-spring district at the foot of the 732-meter volcano.

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Residents near Mt. Usu return home

DATE, Japan - Operators of a pleasure boat house on Lake Toya at the foot of Mt. Usu, southwestern Hokkaido, remove volcanic ashes to prepare for resumption of business June 6. Residents began to return home after the evacuation orders in place since the March 31 eruption of the volcano were partially lifted.

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Evacuation orders lifted for residents near Mt. Usu

DATE, Japan - Staff employees of a hotel in the Lake Toya hot spring resort at the foot of Mt. Usu, southwestern Hokkaido, clean the entrance hall July 6 as the evacuation orders in place since the March 31 eruption of the volcano are partially lifted.

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Hotel near Mt. Usu reopens

DATE, Japan - Tourists arrive at a hotel in the town of Sobetsu near Mt. Usu in southwestern Hokkaido on May 29, about two months after the 732-meter volcano erupted March 31. The reopening of the hotel follows the lifting of an evacuation order covering areas near Mt. Usu. Experts with the Coordinating Committee for the Prediction of Volcanic Eruptions announced May 22 that volcanic activity at the volcano is gradually subsiding and may soon cease.

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Residents head home after lifting of evacuation order

TOYOURA, Japan - Residents of the town of Abuta nearby Mt. Usu carry their belongings to their car May 24 as they prepare to return home nearly two months after being evacuated following the eruption of the volcano in southwestern Hokkaido.

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Evacuation drills conducted around Mt. Usu

DATE, Japan - Primary school pupils board a Self-Defense Forces truck in Date, a city close to the Mt. Usu volcano in southwestern Hokkaido, on May 18 in evacuation drills participated in by some 700 residents in Date, Sobetsu and Abuta at the foot of the volcano. The 732-meter volcano remains active after erupting March 31 for the first time in nearly 23 years.

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Residents near Mt. Usu allowed to return home temporarily

ABUTA, Japan - Forty-one families, the first group of 878 families given permission to make a 30-minute trip home in the Lake Toya hot-spring resort, on May 16 left the shelter for the first time since their evacuation following the eruption of Mt. Usu in southwestern Hokkaido on March 31. Smoke from the 732-meter volcano, which is still active, can be seen in the background.

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Carp streamers hung up at shelter near Mt. Usu

OSHAMAMBE, Japan - Carp streamers donated from across the nation are hung May 4 over a shelter in the town of Oshamambe near the 732-meter Mt. Usu volcano in southwestern Hokkaido, which has been spewing ash, steam and smoke since erupting March 31 for the first time in nearly 23 years. Carp streamers, called ''koinobori'' in Japanese, are flown outside houses on May 5 to celebrate male children and as an expression of hope for their health and prosperity.

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Road near Mt. Usu twisted

DATE, Japan - Photo shows the state of a national road near the Mt. Usu volcano in southwestern Hokkaido on April 24. The section of National Route 230 is believed to have been twisted into a stair-like shape due to a rise in magma below the mountain. The picture was taken by an unmanned helicopter of the Construction Ministry for surveying mudslides from the volcano, which erupted March 31.

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Part-time work offered to evacuees near Mt. Usu

ABUTA, Japan - Women in Abuta, near the Mt. Usu volcano in southwestern Hokkaido, string young scallops on ropes April 20 for growing them in the sea. The Abuta town office began offering this kind of part-time work on coastal scallop farms the same day to about 255 residents who were forced to evacuate the area and became jobless because of the eruption of the mountain March 31.

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Mt. Usu still active

TOYA, Japan - Mt. Usu, the volcano in Hokkaido which erupted March 31, continues spewing ash, steam and smoke April 20. The picture of the northwestern part of the 732-meter volcano was taken at 7:45 a.m.

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Ship carrying evacuees sails near Mt. Usu for inspection

TOYA, Japan - A ship carrying people evacuated from areas near the Mt. Usu volcano in southwestern Hokkaido sails on Lake Toya on a tour to inspect the extent of damage to the Lake Toya hot-spring resort (middle) caused by recent eruptions.

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Evacuees inspect Lake Toya hot-spring resort

TOYA, Japan - People recently evacuated from areas near the Mt. Usu volcano in southwestern Hokkaido prepare to board a ship April 18 to inspect the Lake Toya hot-spring resort from the lake. The 732-meter mountain, which erupted March 31 for the first time in nearly 23 years, erupted again April 17.

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Mt. Usu belches black smoke

HAKODATE, Japan - Mt. Usu, a volcano on Japan's northernmost main island of Hokkaido, erupts again April 17, belching a column of black smoke. The photo was taken from a helicopter chartered by Kyodo News.

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Evacuees forced to move to another shelter

DATE, Japan - Two women and a baby move April 17 to a new shelter in Date, southwestern Hokkaido, for people evacuated from the area around the Mt. Usu volcano. Some 400 people staying at nine schools and other emergency shelters in the city were integrated to three locations to allow schools to resume classes. The volcano, in the background, erupted March 31 and again April 17.

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Prime Minister Mori meets evacuees near Mt. Usu

DATE, Japan - Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori (R) shakes hands with a man staying at an evacuation center at a school in Date, southwestern Hokkaido, near the rumbling volcano Mt. Usu on April 15.

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Family enjoy dinner at home near Mt. Usu

DATE, Japan - A family in Date, a city close to the Mt. Usu volcano in southwestern Hokkaido, enjoy dinner at home April 13 after returning there from a shelter they had evacuated to after the mountain erupted March 31. Residents of the three municipalities closest to the volcano were allowed to return home on the day following a partial lifting of evacuation orders.

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Lights go on in homes after two weeks of darkness

ABUTA, Japan - Lights go on again in homes in Abuta, southwestern Hokkaido, on April 13 two weeks after residents evacuated to shelters following the eruption of Mt. Usu on March 31. Earlier in the day, about 4,700 residents of the three municipalities closest to the volcano, including Abuta, were allowed to return home because of a partial lifting of evacuation orders. Smoke from the mountain can be seen in the background.

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Volcano experts discuss Mt. Usu outlook

DATE, Japan - Volcano experts monitoring Mt. Usu in southwestern Hokkaido meet in Date, a city near the mountain, April 12 to revise their official outlook on the possibility of a violent eruption at the volcano. Magma movements there became localized and the chance of an imminent eruption appeared to have dwindled.

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Mt. Usu evacuees return home

USU, Japan - A couple unloads their car after returning home in the southwestern Hokkaido town of Usu on April 13. They were allowed to go home after volcano experts judged that a major eruption of Mt. Usu is unlikely for the present.

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Residents allowed to go home after Mt. Usu evacuation

DATE, Japan - Holding his son and daughter, a father walks to his home in Date on April 13 as some 4,700 residents of the three municipalities closest to Mt. Usu in southwestern Hokkaido began returning home following a partial lifting of evacuation orders. Volcano experts said there is no immediate sign Mt. Usu will erupt on a large scale from its summit.

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Shop items scattered due to quakes at Mt. Usu

DATE, Japan - A shop owner in Date, near the Mt. Usu volcano in southwestern Hokkaido, on April 12 puts in order sake bottles and other items fallen from the shelves due to volcanic quakes at Mt. Usu, which erupted March 31. Residents were allowed to go back their homes temporarily on the day.

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Experts begin revising Mt. Usu outlook

TOYA, Japan - Mt. Usu continues spewing steam, ash and smoke April 12 after the 732-meter volcano erupted March 31 for the first time in nearly 23 years. Experts got together the same day to revise their official outlook on the possibility of a violent eruption, after magma movements there became localized and the chance of an imminent eruption appeared to have dwindled.

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Weather agency warns of slides on Mt. Usu

HAKODATE, Japan - Hot mudflows gushing out of craters near Mt. Kompira, which is part of Mt. Usu, reach the town of Abuta, west of the peak, destroying a bridge (center) there April 11. A local observatory of the Meteorological Agency maintained its call for people near the volcano in southwestern Hokkaido to stay alert for possible mud and rock slides.

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Hot mud flows into Lake Toya hot spring resort

TOYA, Japan - Steam rises in the wake of hot mud flowing from the crater of Mt. Usu volcano into the deserted Lake Toya hot spring resort in southwestern Hokkaido April 9. Volcanologists have repeatedly warned that Mt. Usu may soon erupt violently. The Meteorological Agency and Hokkaido University have stepped up their monitoring of the 732-meter mountain, which erupted March 31 for the first time in nearly 23 years.

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Evacuees take needed items back with them

SOBETSU, Japan - The photo shows those who recently evacuated from their residences in the town of Sobetsu near the Mt. Usu volcano in southwestern Hokkaido taking needed items back to their shelter after temporarily visiting their homes on April 9. Mt. Usu erupted March 31 for the first time in nearly 23 years and has since been emitting ash, steam, smoke and rock.

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Scallop farmers discuss delay in work resumption near Mt. Usu

DATE, Japan - Scallop farmers in Date, Hokkaido, discuss ways to cope with a delay in the temporary resumption of farming after being told April 8 they could not tend to their farms in the morning due to bad weather around the Mt. Usu volcano, which has been erupting since March 31. Local authorities had been set to let the farmers operate for an hour each in the morning and afternoon starting April 8.

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Volcanic smoke from Mt. Usu engulfs Lake Toya resort

TOYA, Japan - Volcanic smoke from Mt. Usu, pushed on by strong winds, engulfs the Lake Toya spa-resort district in Hokkaido. The volcano has been erupting since March 31, forcing some 13,000 residents of the three municipalities surrounding to the volcano -- the city of Date and towns of Sobetsu and Abuta -- to evacuate their homes.

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Mudslides from volcano flow into Lake Toya

TOYA, Japan - Mudslides from the Mt. Usu volcano in Abuta in southwestern Hokkaido flow into Lake Toya (foreground) on April 7, with the hot mud sending up clouds of white smoke. Volcanic activity at the 732-meter-high mountain entered its eighth day and volcanologists warned that a violent eruption remains a possibility.

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Children start school in town near Mt. Usu

SOBETSU, Japan - First-grade children in the town of Sobetsu, near the Mt. Usu volcano, head to a ceremony marking the start of the school year April 6. The mountain in southern Hokkaido has been emitting smoke and ash since March 31, when it erupted for the first time in 23 years. Thousands of nearby residents have evacuated after scientists warned that the mountain could soon experience a powerful eruption.

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Mt. Usu continues releasing smoke

TOYA, Japan - Smoke rises from a crater at Mt. Kompira, part of the Mt. Usu volcano, near the Lake Toya hot-spring resort, on April 6. Scientists are warning that a powerful eruption could soon occur at the mountain. Mt. Usu has been emitting smoke and ash since March 31, when it erupted after a 23-year sleep.

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Mt. Usu continues emitting smoke

TOYA, Japan - Smoke continues to escape from a crater on the western part of Mt. Usu in southwestern Hokkaido on April 4, five days since the volcano's first eruption after a 23-year sleep. Ash released from the mountain's numerous craters obscures nearby Lake Toya and its hot-spring resort town (at bottom of photo).

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Fault lines develop at Mt. Usu

SAPPORO, Japan - Fault lines that have developed near a crater (top left) on Hokkaido's Mt. Usu are seen in this photo taken April 4 from a Kyodo News helicopter. Experts said the fault lines may be preliminary signs that the volcano is about to create a lava dome.

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Mt. Usu crater photographed

SAPPORO, Japan - This photo, taken April 3 from a Kyodo News helicopter, shows a crater on the northwest side of Mt. Usu, which began erupting March 31 for the first time in 23 years. The crater is near an apartment building in the town of Abuta. On April 2, Hiromu Okada, a professor of volcanology at Hokkaido University, said 10 craters had formed on the volcano since the March 31 eruption.

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Mt. Usu erupts again

HAKODATE, Japan - The photo, taken from a Kyodo News helicopter at 3:50 p.m. on April 2, shows a complete view of Mt. Usu. The 732-meter volcano in southwestern Hokkaido blasted columns of dense smoke skyward from at least three craters.

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Mt. Usu erupts again near Lake Toya

HAKODATE, Japan - Mt. Usu in southwestern Hokkaido, which erupted March 31 for the first time in nearly 23 years, spews clouds of rock and steam again on the afternoon of April 2. The photo, taken from a Kyodo News helicopter at 2:15 p.m., shows the 732-meter volcano blasting a column of dense smoke skyward from a crater near the Lake Toya hot spa resort.

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Mt. Usu volcano continues to belch smoke

TOYA, Japan - The Mt. Usu volcano in southwestern Hokkaido continues belching smoke from its craters at 8:25 a.m. April 2. The 732-meter volcano erupted March 31 for the first time in nearly 23 years. It erupted for a fourth time April 1.

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Mt. Usu erupts for 4th time

TOYA, Japan - Mt. Usu in southwestern Hokkaido erupted for a fourth time on the afternoon of April 1, just hours after it lit up the night sky and formed a new crater with an early morning blast, the Meteorological Agency says. The latest eruption, which occurred at 1 p.m. on the western side of Mt. Usu, followed a small-scale phreatic explosion high on the northwestern side of Mt. Usu at 11:41 a.m. On March 31, the volcano erupted for the first time in nearly 23 years.

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Hokkaido development chief encourages evacuees

DATE, Japan - Hokkaido Development Agency chief Toshihiro Nikai (R) encourages people who evacuated to a shelter in Date, Hokkaido, on March 31 after Mt. Usu erupted earlier in the day. No casualties or damage have been reported so far, but mud flows threaten a port near the foot of the volcano.

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Toyoura Town residents take refuge in sports center

TOYOURA, Japan - Residents in the town of Toyoura, Hokkaido, received ''onigiri'' rice balls around noon April 1 at the Toyoura Family Sports Center in the town. They had evacuated to the facility after Mt. Usu in southwestern Hokkaido erupted on March 31. The 732-meter volcano erupted for a fourth time on the afternoon of April 1.

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Mt. Usu erupts after 23-year sleep (4)

SAPPORO, Japan - Mt. Usu in southwestern Hokkaido erupts March 31 after a week of seismic activity but there were no reports of casualties or damage. Photo shows the moment of eruption at 1:10 p.m. The eruption caused cracks on the slopes of the double-cratered 732-meter volcano.

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Mt. Usu erupts again, belches smoke

TOYA, Japan - The Mt. Usu volcano in southwestern Hokkaido belches heavy smoke from a crater on its western foot at around 9:45 a.m. April 1.

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Volcano smoke pours over deserted town

TOYOURA, Japan - Smoke that spewed from Mt. Usu in southwestern Hokkaido, northern Japan, drifts April 1 over Toya railway station in the deserted town of Abuta at the foot of the volcano. Mt. Usu blew its top again in the morning of April 1, a day after erupting for the first time in nearly 23 years. Residents in the city of Date and the towns of Abuta and Sobetsu, all at the foot of the volcano, have evacuated to public facilities or relatives' homes.

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Resident washes car covered with ash from volcano

SOBETSU, Japan - A resident of Sobetsu, Hokkaido washes her car covered with ash falling from Mt. Usu on March 31. The 732-meter mountain erupted earlier in the day for the first time in 23 years.

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Evacuees watch volcano erupt

DATE, Japan - Evacuees come out of their shelter in Date, Hokkaido, to watch columns of smoke billow out of Mt. Usu on March 31.

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Cabinet ministers discuss ways to cope with Mt. Usu

TOKYO, Japan - Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi (front, 2nd from L) speaks at a March 31 meeting of cabinet ministers at the premier's official residence to discuss ways to cope with the eruption of the Mt. Usu volcano in southwestern Hokkaido. The 732-meter mountain erupted earlier in the day for the first time in 23 years.

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Mt. Usu evacuees queue for meals

DATE, Japan - Villagers evacuated to a gymnasium in Date in Japan's northern island of Hokkaido queue for their meals March 31. The Meteorological Agency was stepping up efforts to catch any early warning signs of an eruption, installing additional equipment to monitor seismic activity and atmospheric vibrations near the 732-meter volcano.

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Evacuees watch volcano eruption on TV screen

SOBETSU, Japan - Wary villagers evacuated to a school auditorium in Sobetsu, Hokkaido, watch Mt. Usu erupt on a TV screen March 31.

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Cracks on Mt. Usu photographed from helicopter

SAPPORO, Japan - This photo, taken March 31 from a Kyodo News helicopter, shows cracks over a length of more than 100 meters on the northwest side of Mt. Usu, the 732-meter volcano in Hokkaido, northern Japan, which erupted hours later in the day.