The Japanese government is to set up a disaster management task force after a new report warned that an eruption of Mount Fuji could blanket Tokyo with more than 3 feet of volcanic ash, bringing the city to a standstill.
Japan has suffered a number of major natural disasters already this year, with more than 100 people killed or missing after a series of typhoons caused extensive flooding and landslides in central parts of the country. The government has been criticised for failing to have disaster management plans in place and is acting more swiftly in response to this latest report.
According to a simulation conducted by scientists at the Meteorological Research Institute, an eruption of Mount Fuji could deposit ash to a depth of more than 1 meter on the prefectures surrounding the iconic mountain and in western parts of Tokyo, just 80 miles to the east.
The scientists studied 1,096 possible patterns of ash dispersion in the event of an eruption of the 12,388-foot peak, taking into account the scale of the eruption, wind directions and air pressure, the Mainichi newspaper reported.
Other simulations suggest that around 4 inches of ash would coat the city, although experts caution even that would be sufficient to cause serious disruptions throughout the metropolitan district.
A report issued in April by the Cabinet Office warned that 4 inches of ash would render many roads impassable, shut down railway networks, halt operations of stations, clog drains and any exposed machinery, such as air conditioning units, and effectively bring a city of 9 million people to a standstill. Some 43 million people live in areas that would be affected by any major disaster, with some estimates suggesting that as many as 750,000 people would have to be evacuated from their homes if an eruption was accompanied by lava flows.
AFP
Japan’s tallest mountain last erupted in 1708 and experts say there is at present no indication of a possible eruption, although others have warned that a shift in the tectonic plates caused by the magnitude-9 earthquake that struck north-east Japan in March 2011 has increased the likelihood of an eruption.
Masaki Kimura, a retired volcano expert at Ryukyu University, cautioned as far back as 2013 that pressure had been building for some time in the magma chamber beneath the volcano and had reached 1.6 megapascals, which was higher than shortly before the 1708 eruption.
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