Rescue operations on a Japanese volcano have been halted for the day because of fears there could be a fresh eruption, with at least 24 bodies still on the mountain.
Helicopters were ordered to remain on the ground while troops, firefighters and police were stood down for the day.
The search operation was suspended yesterday because of rocketing levels of toxic gas near the still-fragile peak.
"Both ground and air rescue operations have been called off today," said an official of Nagano Prefecture's crisis-management office after volcanologists reported increasingly violent tremors at the site early in the day.
Rescue workers had begun climbing early today to try to reach the bodies of at least two dozen people who were among the 36 known to have died when Mount Ontake burst to life on Saturday while packed with hikers.
But they were ordered to stand by when scientists noted increasing strength in the volcanic earthquakes on the 3,067-metre Ontake, leading to fears it could erupt again.
In Tokyo, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledged maximum efforts on rescue and disaster prevention.
"There are people still out of contact, although the police, firefighters and the self-defence forces have been conducting all-out rescue efforts despite the ongoing volcanic activity at Mount Ontake," he noted in parliament.
"The government will continue its utmost rescue efforts with the cooperation of all organisations concerned."
Officials have warned the death toll could rise because several people remain unaccounted for, although some of them could be among the dead still on the mountain.
Ontake erupted without warning during a busy hiking weekend, spewing gas, rocks and ash high into the sky.
Hundreds of hikers were caught on the slopes of the volcano, with dozens trapped on the peak by flying rocks and hot, toxic gases.
Volcanic tremors have been detected constantly since Saturday's eruption, with underground water boiling into steam and breaking or moving rocks, a volcanologist at the meteorological agency said.
