A soccer game in Japan continued uninterrupted last week while an active volcano visibly erupted nearby, Chile’s CHVNoticias website reported on Wednesday, noting that all athletes, officials, and spectators of the event participated in the game as if nothing was amiss despite plumes of volcanic smoke gathering in the sky above the open-air soccer stadium.
The incident occurred on July 17 on southwestern Japan’s Kyushu island at the foot of Sakurajima, an active volcano. Eyewitness video footage of the soccer game proceeding as usual while Sakurajima quietly erupts in the background went viral online in recent days.
CHVNoticias published one such video clip on July 20, noting that the stratovolcano began visibly emitting plumes of smoke mere minutes before the soccer game began.
“The duel to be played was between the local Kagoshima United and Sagamihara for a new date of the third division of Asian football [sic],” the news website reported.
Detailing the incident, the Chilean news outlet wrote:
The most curious thing is that the soccer players jumped onto the field of play and did not flinch a bit at what was happening , the same as the arbitration body, officials and the entire public, who only enjoyed the clash.
The Meteorological Service did not issue any warning that Sakurajima, which has been active for several years, began to expel smoke, but fortunately no one was injured.
In fact, the match went on as normal and Sagamihara ended up taking the 1-0 victory thanks to Tsubasa Ando’s goal in the 80th minute, a victory that allowed them to reach 17 points and move away from the relegation zone.
Sakurajima last erupted on April 25, 2021, according to a report by Kyodo News. The Tokyo-based news agency described the volcano as “sending a column of smoke over 2.3 kilometers [1.4 miles] into the air.”
“Following the eruption at 1:09 a.m., the Japan Meteorological Agency issued an eruption alert, urging people in the cities of Kagoshima and Tarumizu in Kagoshima Prefecture to protect themselves from the potential impact of the volcanic activity,” Kyodo News reported at the time.
Sakurajima’s activity last April did not cause any injuries or property damage following the eruption, according to local authorities.
“The likelihood of death or injury [from a Sakurajima eruption] is low since people have been prohibited from approaching within 2 km [1.2 miles] of the crater since February 2016,” the Japan Meteorological Agency noted in April 2021.
“Sakurajima, an area that has one of the most active volcanoes in Japan, is connected to the Osumi Peninsula on Kyushu, the country’s southwestern main island,” according to Kyodo News.
“A large eruption in 1914 emitted enough lava to close the strait between the Sakurajima volcanic island in Kagoshima Bay and the Osumi Peninsula,” the news agency recalled.
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