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Results of an analysis by the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) and others released this week, suggest that force generated by a large-scale earthquake could cause internal cracks within Mt Fuji, leading to a major eruption of the recently listed UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site.
Fuji, Japan’s most prominent peak, last blew its top in 1707. The AIST research team believes the current state of the still active volcano is very similar to the condition it was in just prior to this last eruption. With more than 300 hundred years’ worth of magma continuing to accumulate, the team is calling for vigilance.
Citing the existence of numerous subterranean channels where magna has flowed beneath Mt Fuji, researchers say a violent eruption could occur if an earthquake allowed magma and gases trapped under the volcano to escape.
Source: 47 News
Read more stories from RocketNews24. -- “Mt. Fuji Should Erupt by 2015”: Ryuku University Professor Emeritus -- Fujiyamashita Station: Crushing Dreams Since 1928 -- Is Mt. Fuji About to Blow Its Top?
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14 Comments
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mlg4035
@sveinnyves - That's a great idea!
sveinnyves
considering the disastrous consequences of mount fuji blowing up, i would rather suggest something to be done to relieve this accumulated pressure like drilling a hole at the base of the mountain and release the magma. The cost to do that will be far less than the damage a volcanic eruption will cause Tokyo and Japan, not to mention saving 300 000 lives.
smithinjapan
When it happens, and it will, it happens. Can't be helped. Based on the qualifications for Fuji's status an eruption if violent enough may indeed render the qualifications void, and Fuji lose its status. I hope not. In any case, the thing that bothers me most about this situation, since an eruption is inevitable, is that some people I've talked to seem more considered about losing the status than about an actual major eruption.
Citizen2012
Who needs a Fuji eruption when you have a TEPCO ?
NZ2011
Lets hope it waits out a few more centuries.
My worry is, while disruptions and the effect it could have maybe severe, I can almost guarantee Tepco and some of the other power supplies ( who all want to crank up their nuclear power plants again) will be woefully unprepared.. There will be blocked fans and ceased motors ( from the dust, its awef stuff ) etc etc etc and then it will be the same old excuses again and again despite the fact Japan is clearly one of the most volcanically and seismically active places on earth.
Vernie Jefferies
Yawn...I am still going to hike Fuji in a few weeks. Just like I do every year.
warnerbro
An eruption could easily bring traffic in Tokyo to a halt, clog all manner of air filtration devices, damage electronic equipment throughout the Kanto region. And one might add that the Tokyo and Osaka stock exchanges have been united just in time to ensure maximum damage to Japan's and the world's economy in such a scenario. The danger has been known for centuries. Do the people in charge of anything have a plan for this?
AManInJapan
Yes we all know that Mt Fuji is a volcano and can erupt. We have heard it many times. Do we really need more scaremongering?
Thunderbird2
If Fuji erupts... if an asteroid collides with the Earth, if a radioactive monster rises from Tokyo bay, if if if...
I think there would me more at stake than Fuji's status if it erupted.
nath
Mmmmagma, mmmmagma! (Austin Powers movie). Seriously though...scary stuff but are they really sure enough to scare millions of people. I hope this does not happen. I don't think Japan needs another disaster this soon.
wanderlust
There was a 3.9 quake in the Fuji Five Lakes area the other night - something is stirring...
Cricky
It's been noticed by many scientific researchers as a potential imminent disaster. Magma building up like a pustual. If it squirts as is predicted, does the pannel of political experts have yet a plan?i would like a link, do not want to end up a Pompei like shadow.
Jeff Ogrisseg
Mount Fuji has been "ready to blow" for decades, just like Tokyo has been long, long overdue for "the Big One." Methinks AIST is simply looking for more funding by exploiting the World Heritage site hoopla.