Volcano

Is there any possibility that Mt Fuji erupts? The answer is yes. It’s because the Japanese symbolic mountain is still active. Since the last eruption, almost three hundred years have passed. As long as human records are concerned, there were only three eruptions(the other two were in 800 and 864) including the last one .Who the hell believes it? The laws of probability teach us not to bet on the eruption even in the next ten years.

However, the recent underground movements have been a little strange. Some signs of microscopic shakings have been observed recently under the ground of Mt Fuji. This is called law wave earthquake in a technical term. These shakings are not physically felt. When some heavy materials move fast, they give out low frequency trough soils or air. You may have experienced to see the rattle of windows shortly after a jet passes at a low altitude over heads. In this case, you may not feel physical shakings, but the windows rattle by the power of the law frequency.

Back to the mountain, according to the weather center, this kind of small earthquakes were recorded so oftener in the late of 2000. Although the low frequency underneath can also be observed by underground water, in light of that there seems to be no underground water around there, a series of small earthquakes comes from magma activities. The close data say that the earthquakes have been observed in the fifteen-meter depth under Mt Fuji. It tells us the higher possibility of the magma activities. If the microscopic shakings or the low frequency movements are caused by some kind of magma activities, it's not deniable that Mt Fuji could erupt.

As I mention that Japan is one of the most seismic frequent countries, related to the fact, Japan has experienced a lot of volcanoes in the past. To prove that, there are still active volcanoes which have the possibility of eruptions. Nowadays actually, two mountains in Hokkaido erupted in 1998, 2000 respectively. The Miyake Island located in the southwest sea of Tokyo also burst into eruption in 2000. Fortunately, there have been no major human causalities in those eruptions. Different from other disasters, one of the reasons for less causalities is its feature. The scopes of direct damages are narrow-ranged within the peripheries of mountains in addition to the slow starters of the volcanic activities. Furthermore, the residents living around the mountains or on the island could evacuate from the volcanoes in earlier times. It's relatively easy to predict that volcanoes will happen in advance. Shortly before big volcanoes, some precursory signs are observed such as successive volcanic earthquakes, rising temperatures of the soil surface and hot springs. In the case of the recent volcano in Hokkaido, for example, an emergent information was announced by the Meteorology Agency two days before it started erupting. The announcement was realized because the increasing frequency of volcanic earthquakes could be observed.

It's important for authorized organizations to notify warnings if true emergency is imminent. On the side of the residents who might be influenced by the volcanoes, they have to be careful about information and prepare for evacuations anytime.

Finally, to ask again what would happen if Mt Fuji should erupt? On that occasion it would devastate not only the peripheries but also widely. It seems to me that the most serous thing in the eruption of Mt Fuji is the damages of ashes. Depending on which direction the wind blows, the volcanic ashes might cover even the Tokyo area. This could give heavy damages especially to the economies around the area. As the case of the mountain in Philippines, the damages would be wide-ranged as well known. On the other hand, there might be lower possibilities that the eruption could lead to serious damages. But ironically Mt Fuji could be designated as a world heritage if the shape were kept as it is because lava would sweep away all the garbage covering the beautiful mountain.