{Inter} Cultural Japan

We are right in the middle of the climbing season of Mt Fuji, so every night you will find a long line of people pulling themselves strenuously up the huge volcano. But there is also other news about the Fuji.

UPI has reported that scientists are getting worried that the volcano, which has been quiet since 1707, may be slowly readying itself to blow its top again. After all, in history eruptions were frequent and it has been quiet now for an eerily long time… And indeed, monitoring equipment has detected the occurrence of low-frequency earthquakes, which could mean that magna is building up…

The website of Volcano World tells us more about the volcano:

Mount Fuji is the archetype of the stratovolcano and probably rivals Vesuvius for the best-know volcano. The volcano rises about 3,500 m above the surrounding plain. Fuji has erupted at least 16 times since 781 AD. Most of these eruptions were moderate to moderate-large in size. The most recent eruption was in 1707-1708 from a vent on the southeast side of the cone. The eruption ejected 0.8 cubic km of ash, blocks, and bombs. Five historic eruptions have caused damage, including the 1707-1708 eruption, but no fatalities. Fuji had two large eruption (VEI=5) in 1050 and 930 B.C.

So are we in for another of those rare big eruptions? What will the economic damage be?

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