Mount Fuji Is in a ‘Critical State’ and Could Be Ready to Blow, Researchers Say
Mount Fuji is primed to spew.
After 307 years, the massive active volcano in Japan may be due for another eruption as a result of a buildup of pressure from the 9.0-magnitude earthquake that hit the country’s eastern coast in 2011. While volcano eruptions may often be difficult to predict, a new study published by a team of French and Japanese researchers indicates that Mount Fuji is in a particularly precarious state.
“Our work does not say that the volcano will start erupting, but it does show that it’s in a critical state,” lead author Florent Brenguier, a researcher at the Institute of Earth Sciences in France, told The Guardian.
The team analyzed data from more than 800 seismic sensors in Japan in order to observe how volcanos react to seismic waves, which are generated by impulses such as earthquakes or explosions. By pinpointing how these waves of energy affect volcanos, researchers should be better equipped to evaluate the risk of volcanic eruptions and may even be able to help predict an eruption.
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