Volcano eruption warning: After Kilauea Japan’s Mount Fuji could be NEXT
JAPAN’S Mount Fuji could be the next volcano to erupt volcanologists have warned as Kilauea in Hawaii continues to explode sparking chaos on Big Island.
By LATIFA YEDROUDJ
Express.co.uk
Thu, Jun 7, 2018
Hawaii’s raging volcano has been fiercely erupting for weeks with fast-moving lava and plumes of toxic ash exploding from its crater, but geologists warn Mount Fuji volcano could be next and could be even more explosive.
Kilauea’s volcano has unleashed its fury in Pahoa, as torrential lava and ash fumes continue to endanger residents on the Big Island.
However, experts say Mt Fuji’s peak, which lies less than 90 miles from Tokyo, could see a possible eruption in the near future, forcing more than 750, 000 people out of their homes.
Volcanologist Akira Takada at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology said: “Although Mt. Fuji remains dormant for more than 300 years, the possibility of the mountain erupting cannot be ruled out.
“Due precautions, therefore, should be paid to the possibility of lava flowing from Mt Fuji.”
Unlike fast-moving lava in Kilauea, most lava in Japan is sticky – meaning Mt Fuji’s eruption will be even more violent and explosive.
The Japanese volcano’s fissures first erupted in the latter half of the 9th century in the Heian Period (794-1192), which led to the formation of today’s Aokigahara ocean of foliage and part of the Fuji Five Lakes.
In 1707, Mt Fuji erupted viciously, just 49 days after the massive 8.7 magnitude Hotel earthquake.
The eruption was so violent that it altered the shape of the mountain’s peak, while Tokyo was covered in thick ash.
Fuji volcano has remained dormant ever since, but experts warn an eruption could still happen.
Volcanic eruptions in Japan occur at tectonic plate boundaries, where one plate sinks under the other – unlike the Big Island volcano eruption, which occurred at a hotspot.
Hawaii’s volcano continues to rage on in its 35 day of activity.
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