Mount Ontake Search suspended

Soldiers, police and firefighters suspended the search on Tuesday after meteorologists detected the highest levels of tremors on the volcano since it erupted on Saturday evening. Helicopters involved in the effort were grounded.

"At this point, anything can happen," Shoji Saito of the Japan Meteorological Agency said in a statement cited by the Associated Press. Saito, however, stopped short of predicting a new eruption of the 3,067-meter (10,121-foot) volcano.

The rescue workers had been trying to reach the bodies of at least 24 people killed in Saturday's eruption.

At least 36 people are believed to have died in the eruption, but only 12 bodies have been recovered so far. Just what killed the victims remains unclear, although survivors reported being pelted by rocks from the eruption. Experts have said some victims may have also died as a result of suffocation from ash or toxic gases.

Around 250 people are believed to have been on the mountain, which is a popular destination for hikers.

Recovery efforts not over

Despite Tuesday's suspension of rescue operations, the government said it remained committed to recovering the victims.

"There are people still out of contact, although the police, firefighters and the Self-Defense Forces have been conducting all-out rescue efforts despite the ongoing volcanic activity at Mount Ontake," Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told parliament in Tokyo.

"The government will continue its utmost rescue efforts with the cooperation of all organizations concerned," he added.

Saturday's eruption of Mount Ontake, located around 200 kilometers (120 miles) west of Tokyo, caught experts by surprise. Despite an increase in seismic activity over the preceding couple of weeks, seismologists said there had been no indications that an eruption was imminent.

pfd/kms (AP, AFP, dpa)