Photo/Illutration Firefighters observe a moment of silence at a ceremony to mark the 30th anniversary of the massive eruption of Mount Unzen’s Fugendake on June 3 in Shimabara, Nagasaki Prefecture. (Jun Kaneko)

SHIMABARA, Nagasaki Prefecture--Locals gathered here on June 3 to commemorate the massive eruption of Mount Unzen’s Fugendake 30 years ago, which killed 43 people including firefighters and journalists.

About 60 bereaved family members and others attended a ceremony held in front of a memorial cenotaph installed in a corner of the Nita housing complex in Shimabara, where people who lost homes due to the disaster had relocated.

The cenotaph is located about 5 kilometers east of the peak of Fugendake.

Attendees offered a prayer to 43 victims who died in 1991, and to another person who died in the pyroclastic flows that occurred on June 23, 1993. A pyroclastic flow is a deadly, fast-moving mix of superhot gases and volcanic matter.

Shimabara Mayor Ryuzaburo Furukawa noted in a speech that the volcano is still unstable.

“A 100-million-cubic-meter lava dome is still stretching at the mountaintop precariously,” Furukawa said. “Further strengthening disaster prevention measures is the very least we can do for the souls of the dead.”

The attendees offered white chrysanthemum flowers on a makeshift altar.

After the ceremony, the bereaved family members were expected to ride in a Self-Defense Forces helicopter and fly over the Kamikoba area where many died from being swept up by the pyroclastic flows.

At 4:08 p.m., the time the pyroclastic flows occurred 30 years ago, a siren was sounded around the city calling for a moment of silence.

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