That’s Tokyo Tower in the foreground, still standing despite apparently having been destroyed multiple times on the silver screen by Gojira/Godzilla, Neptunians (if Internet Archive is back up again), etc.
Another iconic landmark on the city’s horizon — Fujisan — is in the background, tall and quiet for more than three centuries, yet stirring a bit since the great earthquake/tsunami of 2011.
Having reawakened, it is likely to become more and more active, perhaps even to the point of erupting in the future.
In between the Tokyo Tower and Mount Fuji — and also clustered all around the famous volcano’s feet — are tens of millions of human beings who are living, working, and/or visiting in Tokyo every day.
For now, Fuji continues to sleep soundly, as it has done since the early 1700s and probably will continue to do for quite a while.
Yet I expect news stories like this, focusing on the huge task of preparing the world’s most populous city for an eventual eruption, to continue into 2025.
๐๐๐
Location:
35.361ยฐ N, 138.728ยฐ E. The GVP Volcano Number is 283030.
Nearby Population:
Per the Global Volcanism Program page:
- Within 5 km (3 miles): 570.
- Within 10 km (6 miles): 1,759.
- Within 30 km (19 miles): 906,969.
- Within 100 km (62 miles): 25,022,187.
Current Status:
Normal, no raised alert level.
Last recorded event:
Mount Fuji’s 1707-1708 Hoei eruption was its most explosive historical event (VEI 5) as well as its last.
Wikipedia has an interesting overview of the eruption and its devastating effects on Japan, but I would recommend this paper, despite a little jargon, for a discussion of what triggered that blast. (They also get into the “unclamping” of Fuji’s plumbing in 2011.)
Monitoring:
The Japan Meteorological Agency and associated organizations monitor Mount Fuji very closely but it’s hard for this outsider who doesn’t understand Japanese to get through their websites.
This page is in English, and you can see that there are no warnings for Fuji in the Volcanoes section.
๐๐๐
On October 22, 2024, Kyodo News reported (autotranslated) that government officials recommended “…in the event of ashfall from a large-scale eruption of Mount Fuji, residents should ‘basically remain in their homes or safe places in the ashfall areas as much as possible and continue living their lives.’ …This was explained at a meeting of experts, and agreement was reached in principle.
The plan will be included in guidelines to be compiled by the end of the year…”
Featured image: Tokyoform, CC BY-SA-NC-ND 2.0
Flight To Wonder 