A pair of earthquakes rocks Japan, raising fears of more seismic activity in the future

A string of earthquakes in central and western Japan on Friday raised new fears of a “supervolcanic eruption” and catastrophic eruptions in the world’s most seismically active country.

The first major convulsion was a 4.8-magnitude earthquake that struck the northern foot of Mount Fuji at approximately 6:37 AM. The quake registered a weak 5 on the 7-point Shindo Shindo scale in Otsuki in eastern Yamanashi Prefecture and 4 in some areas, the Kanagawa Meteorological Agency said.

While there was no danger of a tsunami following the quake, which was also felt in parts of Tokyo, the agency warned that tremors of the same intensity could occur within a week. It added that the quake’s epicenter in the Fuji Five Lakes region was at a depth of about 19 kilometers. There were no initial reports of injuries or serious damage to infrastructure, according to the authorities.

Earthquakes are part of everyday life in Japan. The archipelago lies on or near the boundaries of four tectonic plates and lies along the Pacific Ring of Seismicity, where the majority of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur on the planet. In fact, 18.5% of earthquakes in the world occur in Japan, according to the Ministry of Lands. This effectively means that earthquakes can happen anywhere in the country at any time.

However, Friday morning Shakir raised the alarm because it was preceded by previous earthquakes of 4.1 and 3.6 on the Richter scale that struck around 2:18 a.m. and 2:23 a.m. respectively in the same area.

The “eruption of Mount Fuji” immediately began popping up on Twitter, with netizens expressing their prediction that earthquakes could trigger a massive volcanic eruption at Japan’s highest peak. The meteorological agency tried to allay the concern, saying there was no particular change in the monitoring data for the 3,776-meter-high mountain.

As if to fan the flames, a 5.4-magnitude earthquake struck off Western Wakayama Prefecture at 9:28 a.m., registering a weak 5 on the seismic intensity scale in the prefecture’s Gubu city. While no injuries have been reported so far from the earthquake, which registered as high as Shindo 3 in Osaka, the area among those considered at high risk of a massive earthquake is in the center of the Nankai Basin, a huge ocean floor trench that runs off the southern coast of Japan. From Shizuoka Prefecture to Kyushu Island.

Windows shattered in the Gobu city office, Wakayama Prefecture, following the earthquake on Friday morning. | Kyodo

The government estimates that a violent earthquake of magnitude 8 to 9 has a 70-80% probability of striking along the trough within the next 30 years, with the disaster expected to kill up to 320,000 people and cause damage of up to 220 trillion yen. .

“As with the Yamanashi earthquake, the Wakayama earthquake was also affected by the Philippine Sea Plate,” said Manabu Takahashi, a specially appointed professor at Ritsumeikan University’s Pan-Pacific Civilizations Research Center.

“It is as if the entire Japanese archipelago is at the mercy of the power of the plates. In particular, earthquakes and volcanic activity are likely to occur at Mount Fuji, Mount Hakone, Izu Oshima, Miyake Island and other areas on the western side of the Izu-Ogasawara Trench where the Pacific plate sinks into Philippine Sea Plate,” she said.

“We must prepare for the possibility of unprecedented earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.”

Researchers have warned that seismic activity has been on the rise since March 11, 2011, when a 9-magnitude earthquake struck off the northeastern coast of Japan, triggering a massive tsunami, killing nearly 16,000 people and leaving thousands missing. They say this earthquake – the largest in the country’s recorded history – was accompanied by large-scale displacements of the earth’s crust, which created stresses and triggered earthquakes.

The Greater Tokyo region, which includes Yamanashi Prefecture, where the tremors occurred on Friday, lies on three plates: the Okhotsk Plate to the north, the Philippine Marine Plate to the south that slides beneath it, and the Pacific Plate to the east beneath it. Both. These plates are constantly grinding together, causing deadly earthquakes.

In October, a 5.9-magnitude earthquake struck Tokyo and the surrounding prefectures. All train and subway lines in and around the capital have temporarily halted operations while water pipes have burst and fires have broken out. While no one was killed, the convulsion reignited fears of a massive earthquake that could destroy the capital.

In 2013, the government released a report that predicted there was a 70% chance of a magnitude 7 earthquake hitting the metropolitan area in the next 30 years. In a worst-case scenario, the earthquake could kill up to 23,000 people, cause more than 95 trillion yen in damage, and destroy 610,000 homes.

“Eastern Yamanashi, where the earthquakes occurred this morning, is on the plate boundary and has been a very seismically active area,” says Toshiasu Nagao, an expert in earthquake forecasting at Tokai University’s Institute of Ocean Research and Development.

But the area has been relatively calm for the past decade or so. These recent earthquakes indicate that the area is becoming seismically active again.”

Meanwhile, Nagao says, Mount Fuji is set to erupt next, as the last eruption was in 1707. If the famous mountain erupts, volcanic ash could travel through Tokyo all the way to Chiba and paralyze the capital and surrounding areas, causing Power and water outages. Shortage and disruption of communications, according to a government task force.

“While there may not be detectable signs of a volcanic eruption at this point, it will certainly happen, most likely within our lifetime,” he says.

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