MIYAKE ISLAND -- The air reeked in the Miike district one morning last week as Mount Oyama spewed sulfur dioxide -- an event that has continued since its eruptions started in July 2000.
Miike is one of two districts on Miyake where islanders will be banned from living -- even when the all-out evacuation order issued in September 2000 is lifted in February. Including the area around the volcano, about 45 percent of the island will be inhabitable.
When the average amount of sulfur dioxide measured in a five-minute period -- Miyake's benchmark -- rises to 2 parts per million or higher, the village issues a "caution" alert. New rules introduced in October state that people must put on gas masks or stay indoors during such times.