Pumice pileup from undersea volcano causing damage in Japan

TOKYO: Massive amounts of volcanic pumice pebbles spewed from an undersea volcano in the Pacific Ocean have been piling up on southern Japanese coasts, damaging ports and fishing boats, and prompting the central government to establish a task force to deal with the unwanted arrivals as a natural disaster, officials said.

The gray pebbles were spewed and floating from the Fukutokuokanoba undersea volcano in the Ogasawara island chain, which erupted in mid-August. The island is about 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) south of Tokyo.

Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihiko Isozaki told reporters Friday that the pumice pebble damages have so far affected 11 ports on Okinawa and 19 others in the Kagoshima prefecture on Japan's southernmost island of Kyushu.