For more than 300 years, Mount Fuji has quietly loomed over Tokyo, but an eruption could, apparently, strike at any moment. In honor of Volcanic Disaster Preparedness Day on August 26, Japanese officials released computer- and AI-generated videos to remind its citizens of that harrowing fact.
The videos, created by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and Japan’s Cabinet Office of Disaster Management, aim to prepare Tokyo’s 37 million residents for this potential disaster. In the Cabinet Office’s video, which you can watch below, ash rains down over the city, drastically reducing visibility. The eruption material builds up to about 24 to 28 inches (60 to 70 centimeters) thick over just a few days, the narrator explains. A roof caves in and traffic grinds to a halt as highways become impassable. You can watch the English version here (we’re unable to embed the English version for some reason).
According to the Associated Press, the Tokyo government said in a statement that there are currently no signs of Fuji erupting. “The simulation is designed to equip residents with accurate knowledge and preparedness measures they can take in case of an emergency,” it explained.
Preparing for Mount Fuji to reawaken
Mount Fuji is a 12,300-foot-tall (3,700-meter-tall) stratovolcano that lies about 60 miles (100 kilometers) from central Tokyo. Though it hasn’t erupted since 1707, geologists consider it “potentially active” due to the fact that it has erupted during the Holocene epoch, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
What’s more, Fuji is part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, an area of significant seismic and volcanic activity. This volcano sits at the three-way intersection of the Pacific, Eurasian, and Philippine tectonic plates. Subduction of the Pacific plate beneath the Philippine plate drives Fuji’s activity.
The volcano’s most recent eruption was also its largest in recorded history.
Likely triggered by an 8.6 magnitude earthquake in October 1707, the eruption began months later on December 16 and lasted until January 1. Fuji ejected tons of tephra, or a mix of pyroclastic materials including ash and rock, into the air, according to National Geographic. This material blanketed the city of Edo, known today as central Tokyo, and decimated crops. Many starved to death during the resulting famine.
Due to its proximity to densely populated Tokyo and other cities, experts continuously monitor Fuji for signs of activity. Still, it’s impossible to predict the timing of this volcano’s next eruption. This is why Japanese officials urge residents to be ready at any time.
The public reacts
Though the videos are meant to inform, they also caused anxiety and confusion among some Tokyo residents, the AP reports.
“Are there actually any signs of eruption?” Shinichiro Kariya, a 57-year-old hospital employee, asked the AP. “Why are we now hearing things like ‘10 centimeters of ash could fall,’ even in Tokyo? I’m wondering why this is happening all of a sudden.”
“Honestly, Mt. Fuji had always felt far away, so watching this made me feel very scared,” an unnamed 26-year-old nurse told the Japanese news station NTV News.
University of Tokyo professor and risk communication expert Naoya Sekiya told the AP there is no particular significance to the timing of the videos’ release, explaining that the government has modeled scenarios for volcanic eruptions and earthquakes for years.
Japan is prone to a variety of natural disasters, such as volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and typhoons. These in turn can trigger other disasters, such as landslides, tsunamis—and even nuclear disasters.
As for Mount Fuji, “we are unable to predict when an eruption will come—could be weeks later, one year later, a decade, or a century later,” Mitsuhiro Yoshimoto, a researcher at the Yamanashi Prefectural Government’s Mount Fuji Research Institute, told NTV News. “I hope that citizens will each get an idea of when and how they must evacuate with the information they have.”
AloJapan.com