TOKYO – The Japanese government has released simulated video footage of a large Mt. Fuji eruption, predicting its impact, including ashfall, in an effort to better prepare people for such a disaster scenario.
The 10-minute video uses computer graphics to depict scenes after an eruption on a scale equivalent to the last confirmed blast in 1707. It warns that power supplies, sewage systems, and roads and railways would be among the infrastructure affected.
The video featuring a potential disaster at the 3,776-meter peak — Japan’s tallest — can be viewed on the Cabinet Office website and comes as the country observes “Volcanic Disaster Preparedness Awareness Day” on Aug. 26.
“It is a bit unusual that Mt. Fuji has not erupted for over 300 years,” Toshitsugu Fujii, professor emeritus at the University of Tokyo, said in the footage. On average, Mt. Fuji erupts once every 30 years, he says.
Fujii, director of the Mount Fuji Research Institute based in Yamanashi Prefecture, added he would not be surprised if an eruption occurred at any time. Mt. Fuji straddles Yamanashi and neighboring Shizuoka Prefecture.
The video shows that following an eruption, beach sand-like ash as large as 2 millimeters in diameter would soon fall around Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture, about 60 kilometers from the volcano, while a 20-centimeter-thick layer of ash would accumulate there about two days later.
The video also depicts a scene in which 5 cm or more of volcanic ash blankets Tokyo’s Shinjuku district two days after the eruption.
Ashfall of 30 cm or more, when combined with rain, would damage wooden houses, while just 3 cm of ash could disrupt road transport if it becomes wet.
The video was based on a scenario the government’s Central Disaster Management Council released in 2020.
AloJapan.com