Volcanologists speculate that a disaster is imminent.
New readings taken by the National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention reveal that the pressure in Mount Fuji’s magma chamber, at 1.6 megapascals, is nearly 16 times the 0.1 megapascals it takes to trigger an eruption, says this article on wired.co.
The pressure is now higher than it was in 1707, the last time the Japanese volcano erupted.
Researchers have speculated for some time that the volcano, located on Honshu Island 100km southwest of Tokyo, is overdue an eruption.
Since the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, Japan has been on tenterhooks, and in May 2012 a professor from Ryukyu University warned that a massive eruption within three years would be likely.
The Institute qualified its warning by noting that pressure is just one contributory factor to an eruption. The 1707 quake, however, was itself caused by a recent earthquake that amped up the pressure in its magma chamber.
“It’s possible for Mount Fuji to erupt even several years after the March 2011 earthquake, therefore we need to be careful about the development,” a representative said.
http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-09/06/mount-fuji
http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/
Thanks to Perdavid, Oz Steamer and Brian Payne for these links
“The biggest problem if Mt Fuji goes up is that it’s next door to one of the world’s largest financial hubs,” says Oz. “If you think the present economic misery is bad, just that one volcano erupting could make things 100 times worse. Now, imagine that there’s a whole lot of Mt Fuji’s go off all around the same time, and it’ll make the “little Ice Age” look like a Sunday Picnic.”
14 Responses to Pressure in Mount Fuji now higher than last eruption, experts warn
SUNSPOTS
11 May - 4 sunspots
Credit: landscheidt.infoGood news! A publisher in Italy has now translated Not by Fire but by Ice into Italian.
La Prossima Era Glaciale
Available hereClick for full size
Ice Age Maps
Are You Prepared?
I recommend this DVD
Warmer during most of
the past 10,000 years
- 525,045
Unique
VisitorsPowered By
I have been hearing about this a lot recently. I live about 60k from Mount Fuji. If it blows up in winter we will be ok as the winds come from the NW, if it blows in summer we will be covered in ash.
Recently here we have been doing earthquake and disaster practice drills in anticipation of either Mount Fuji blowing her top ond or a majorxquake hitting on the Nankai trough!
Ever since the massive quake we had ast year quake activity has been much greater than before!
Averaging 10-30 quakes everyday somewhere in Japan.
We will see how things pan out over the coming weeks,months or years.
Michael,
I sure hope Mt. Fuji does not blow big, but
shouldn’t you think about moving to a safer place. Japan seems to be one of the most violent places to live on earth wtih all the major earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes,
typhoons, nuclear accidents, etc?
True, but how does one simply up and leave? Who expect the fabulously wealthy have this option?
“Who except the fabulously wealthy…??” People other than the “fabulously wealthy” relocate all the time. The vast majority of immigrants pouring into Europe and North America (well…Canada and the US) are poor and are going there to be other than poor.
What a mess that would be. Gambatae Neh?
Wonder if that is the last economic straw when it blows!!!!
Black Swan.
Fuji could deliver the mortal blow.
Are they correct with the pressure stated? That’s only 16 bar? An oil or gas well has average 200-250 bar pressure!!
yes, it’s just 16 atm, must be a typo.
Japan is totally stuffed the corrupt Gov did nothing about containing Fukushima radiation. At least the Soviets buried Chernobyl Now Japan is totally contaminated with Cesium ALL the food in Japan is radioactive according to Globalreasearch.ca. They wont survive if there is an eruption which will probably cause wthe rest of the stored fuel rods in Fukushima to cause the total destruction of Japan. Who need bombs whe n u can do it yourself. Poor Japanese people.
well that would ruin the nice postcard pics..
still I guess a whole new set would follow.
seriously, it would be so much more grief for a population already under huge stress, very bad if she blows.
Looked at from a European perspective Mount Fuji is the most iconic symbol of Japanese culture. This is because of the way in which artistic wood block prints depicting the volcano made their way into European culture during the ninteenth century. Such images of Japanese culture impacted European art very greatly giving rise to the modern art movement called “impressionism” for example. But the cultural effect did not stop there. Impressionism went on to inspire other artistic styles too. When Mount Fuji explodes then most probably the exquisit cone structure we all recognise will probably be blown away. Leaving only a crater with much lower elevation. Perhaps a lake. Lake Fuji. The iconic symbol will simply no longer be there.
If the possible eruption is anything like a super eruption then the Japanese should get out of the way and pray that fukushima is buried under deep and hot pyroclastic flows that bury and sequester the radio isotopes in a silica matrix. Don’t let deference to incompetant politicians get in the way of personal survival.
er, how the heck did they measure the pressure in Mt. Fuji back in 1707?
The International System of Units was only defined in 1960 which adopted the Pascal as a unit of pressure.
2.5 centuries after 1707. Do I smell, sniff, sniff, BS?