On 12 June, Aso Volcanological Laboratory (AVL) of the Institute for Geothermal Sciences, Graduate School of Science, opened a new research facility in a former elementary school in Sakanashi, Aso, Kumamoto Prefecture. AVL's original building, located in the village of Minami-Aso, is undergoing restoration after sustaining extensive damage in the April 2016 Kumamoto earthquakes. Damage included the subsidence of the institute, and broken masonry and other equipment. The new facility will serve as AVL's main base for research and education until the Minami-Aso building is restored.
Since the quakes, AVL has been conducting research and observation at two offices it had newly set up within the prefecture -- one in Ozu, Kikuchi District, and the other in Yakuimbaru, Aso -- while working to renovate the Sakanashi school building, rented from the Aso municipal government.
The Sakanashi facility's 12 June inauguration was celebrated with Professor Tomoo Hirano, dean of the Graduate School of Science, Mr Yoshiaki Sato, mayor of Aso, and two others unveiling the AVL sign at the building's entrance.
Dean Hirano (second from left) and others at the inauguration ceremony for AVL's temporary research facility
Related link
- Aso Volcanological Laboratory, Institute for Geothermal Sciences, Graduate School of Science
http://www.aso.vgs.kyoto-u.ac.jp
