Coordinating Committee for Prediction of Volcanic Eruption
© MainichiToshitsugu Fujii, center, chairman of the Coordinating Committee for Prediction of Volcanic Eruption, is flanked by other officials in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward on Feb. 3.
Mount Shinmoedake straddling Miyazaki and Kagoshima prefectures will continue its explosive eruptions over the next couple of weeks, according to a report by the government's Coordinating Committee for Prediction of Volcanic Eruption.

As the 1,421-meter volcano keeps threatening the lives of local residents, the committee met for an emergency executive meeting at the Meteorological Agency in Tokyo on Feb. 3.

"Over the next one to two weeks, the volcano is expected to repeat its explosive eruptions, emitting as much lava as it is at the moment," the committee concluded.

The committee, however, did not make any long-term predictions about what the volcano will do. The panel of volcanologists and other experts will intensify observations and analyses of subterranean magma activities using seismometers and angle meters.

Shinmoedake's magma chambers are estimated to have shrunk by a volume of 5.5 million cubic meters between the first eruption and Jan. 28, and committee chairman Toshitsugu Fujii, professor emeritus at the University of Tokyo, pointed to a slowing of that contraction since Jan. 31 -- indicating a decrease in subterranean magma -- as the basis for the committee's short-term prediction. As to the ongoing eruptions, Fujii explained that there has likely been a continued supply of magma corresponding to the scale of the explosions.

Fujii ruled out the possibility of massive eruptions on the scale of those on Jan. 26 and 27 over the next two weeks.

Mount Shinmoedake
© MainichiMount Shinmoedake shoots up a column of volcanic ash on Feb. 1.
Currently, Mount Shinmoedake's crater is covered by lava, and some experts fear that a massive eruption could blow off the lava cap and cause pyroclastic flows. However, Fujii dismissed such concerns, saying, "That would take place only after the volcano has resumed its upthrust to some extent, and that is not likely to occur in the next month considering the current state of the mountain."

As to the fact that the Meteorological Agency has not downgraded its alert level concerning the volcano's eruptions since Jan. 26, Fujii said, "That's not something our committee should decide, but considering the situation has not changed, I think the alert level is appropriate."

The extraordinary executive meeting was held for the first time since December 2004, when it discussed volcanic activity on Miyakejima Island south of Tokyo.

In a related development, the committee decided to call the "lava dome" -- which is currently covering Shinmoedake's 700-meter-diameter crater -- simply "lava" on the grounds that the lava is relatively flat in shape.

According to the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan, the lava in the crater is believed to measure some 600 meters in diameter and stands up to around 110 meters high.