Japan's 2011 Earthquake May Lead to Mount Fuji Volcanic Eruption, Study Says

weather.com ^

[chessplayer]

In 2011, a 9.0-magnitude earthquake struck just off the coast of Honshu, Japan. The quake — the country's strongest ever — and resulting tsunami claimed more than 15,000 lives and destroyed hundreds of thousands of homes and buildings.

But according to a study published in Science, a new cataclysm from the devastating quake could be on the horizon: a major eruption of Japan's Mount Fuji.

Using seismic data collected in the wake of the earthquake, French and Japanese researchers pieced together a map of the geological underpinnings of Japan most "disturbed" by the 2011 quake. What they found was alarming: the geology of volcanic areas, particularly the one found underneath Mount Fuji, suffered the most damage from the earthquake, hinting at the possibility that the disturbances could spark the first major eruption of Mount Fuji since 1707.

Even though Mount Fuji hasn't erupted in more than 300 years, volcanic activity and history are pointing at a potential eruption.

[MeshugeMikey]

Bush Cheney and The Halliburton Earthquake machine are behind this.

I read about it on The Internet!

[GraceG]

Wow, Japan has really been taking a thrashing the last few years....

If we had Japanese in boats heading to Alaska for refuge we would turn them back even though most are highly skilled because Obama would turn them away as they have a great work ethic and probably wouldn;t get on welfare.

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

When calculating the damage caused by a volcanic eruption, the most important variable is the direction of the predominant winds.

Other than the area immediately around the volcano, most of the ash will go with the wind. For example, Mt. St. Helens, shows typical inland winds going East:

http://i.imgur.com/UCLCgxD.jpg

There is another variable, in the volcanoes on the east side of the ring of fire tend to release a long, continual stream of ash. But those on the west tend to be brittle and explosive, like Krakatoa.

[Shugee]

Watching the NHK channel, I’ve gotten an appreciation for the geographical/geological fragility of Japan.

[chajin]

The Hoei eruption (1707) of Mt. Fuji was mostly ash, and, I suspect, the prevailing winds were the reason the ash went primarily to the east (http://www.bousai.go.jp/kazan/fujisan-kyougikai/fuji_map/img/common_l.jpg, look at the map in the middle).

If a similar eruption happened today, it would wreak havoc on the railroad lines and highways between Tokyo and Nagoya, along with enough falling ash to temporarily shut down all the Kanto cities, including Yokohama, Yokosuka (and the naval base) and the Miura peninsula, and mess up any farming, primarily rice and tea, between Chiba and Shizuoka. Compared to a normal day it would be a mess, but compared to the Tohoku earthquake it would be a Sunday School picnic.

[VanShuyten]

From Wiki: "The 1707 Hōei earthquake, which occurred at 14:00 local time on October 28, 1707, was the largest earthquake in Japanese history[3] until the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake[4] surpassed it....This event ruptured all of the segments of the Nankai megathrust simultaneously, the only earthquake known to have done this, with an estimated magnitude of 8.6 ML. It might also have triggered the last eruption of Mount Fuji 49 days later" However, there are a half dozen active volcanoes much closer to the epicenter of the Tohoku earthquake, so I don't see it.

[blam]

Neat maps. Thanks.

[Ken H]

Bush Cheney and The Halliburton Earthquake machine are behind this.

I read about it on The Internet!

As George Washington once said, 'Don't believe everything you read on the internet.'