Alert level raised at Asama in Japan

UPDATE 2/1/09 5:02 PM Pacific: Indeed, Asama did erupt today. The eruption was relatively small, throwing ballistic clasts up to 1 kilometer from the vent and ash into the outskirts of Tokyo.

Redoubt in Alaska has dominated the volcano news as of late, but it is clearly not the only volcano on Earth that is showing signs of eruption right now. The Meteorological Agency in Japan has just raises the alert level at Mt. Asama and warn that the volcano could erupt in the next “two days”. Asama is ~150 kilometers from Tokyo and is very active (see above), having last erupted in September 2008. The volcano has had heightened seismicity for the past few days that led to the increase in alert level. When Asama does erupt, the products tend to be explosive and are accompanied by dome growth (similar to other Japanese volcanoes like Unzen).