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LEAD: Hokkaido volcano erupts for 1st time since 1998+(Japan Economic Newswire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)TOKYO, March 21_(Kyodo) _ (EDS: UPDATING) A Hokkaido volcano underwent a minor eruption early Tuesday, with a small amount of ash found on roads about 10 kilometers southeast of the mountain, a local meteorological observatory said. The Sapporo observatory said there is no fear of a major eruption at Mt. Meakandake in eastern Hokkaido, but minor eruptions may continue. The 1,499-meter mountain erupted for the first time since November 1998. Volcanic tremors were detected around 6:28 a.m. Tuesday and billowing white smoke was confirmed around noon. The volcanic tremors ended around 10:30 a.m. and the mountain has shown no signs of further volcanic activity. No significant crustal movement has been observed, the observatory said. The eruption occurred about 500 meters from the peak on the northwest side of the mountain, possibly making a new volcanic vent, the observatory said. On March 11, the observatory detected 576 instances of seismic activity, a record since it began to observe the volcano in 1972. The number declined to 122 on March 12 and to 48 on March 13. Mt. Meakandake has experienced many minor eruptions since World War II, including those in 1988 and 1996. In the 1998 eruption, a small amount of ash fell in an area to the east of the mountain within a range of 15 km. |