Volatile Volcanoes Are Waking Up
Bardarbunga, IcelandThe lava flows on the the ground after the Bardabunga volcano erupted again on August 31, 2014. Scientists estimate the fissure to be at least 1.5 kilometres long. The lava is estimated to be six to eight metres thick and flowing at a rate of about 1,000 cubic metres per second. Iceland cut its ash warning level for aviation to orange from red on Sunday, saying a fresh fissure eruption in Iceland's Bardarbunga volcano system was not creating ash. Iceland's largest volcanic system, which cuts a 190 km long and up to 25 km wide (118 miles by 15.5 miles) swathe across the North Atlantic island, has been hit by thousands of earthquakes over the last two weeks and scientists have been on high alert. ? REUTERS/Armann?Hoskuldsson?

From an estimated 8 injured and 250 trapped hikers, the toll from the Saturday noon eruption of Japan's Mount Ontake appears to have risen dramatically. Unofficial estimate place the number of dead victims to more than 30.

Read: Japan's Mount Ontake Erupts, Traps & Injures Hikers (VIDEOS)

The number is considered not official because the Nagano police figure who provided the estimate and shared the information anonymously isn't authorized to speak publicly, reports Reuters.

The large number of trapped mountaineers is because the volcano, which erupted first in 1979 after being dormant for thousands of years, is a popular climbing destination.

Reports said 45 people are said to be missing and the country's Fire and Disaster Management Agency found unconscious climbers. At least four people with heart and lung failure were brought to the nearby Kiso town, while there were more victims in the same condition, sad Keita Ushimaru from Kiso.

On early Sunday morning, military choppers ferried seven people from the mountainside, while rescue workers helped other hurt climbers down the slope of Mount Ontake which spewed lava and ash.

The rescue operations involves the use of seven helicopters and deployment of 250 soldiers from the Self-Defense Force as well as assistance from the police and fire departments.

A large grey and white plume continued to rise from the 3,067-metre volcano located 210 kilometres west of Tokyo on the boundary of the Nagan and Gifu prefectures on Honshu island.

The last time that a volcanic eruption killed people in Japan was in 1991 when 43 died from pyroclastic flow from Mount Unzen in Nagasaki Prefecture.

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