Slashdot Mirror


Mt. Fuji Volcano In 'Critical State' After Quakes

An anonymous reader writes: Mount Fuji, in addition to being a picturesque landmark and an important part of Japanese culture, is also an active volcano. Its last eruption was just over 400 years ago, but its location — where the Eurasian, Pacific, and Philippine tectonic plates meet — mean it will always have potential for eruption. A new study (PDF) has examined the pressures around Mount Fuji in the wake of several recent earthquakes, including the magnitude 9 tremor that unleashed the destructive tsunami in 2011. The researchers now say the volcano is in a "critical state." According to the study's lead author, "The volcanic regions are the ones where the fluids trapped in the rock – boiling water, gas, liquid magma, which cause an eruption when they rise to the surface – exert the greatest pressure. The seismic waves add to this pressure, causing even more disturbance." They have no way of predicting when an eruption might happen, but the potential seems greater than ever.

5 of 151 comments (clear)

  1. Who wants to bet... by KingOfBLASH · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...this thread erupts with first posts?

  2. Great by kruach+aum · · Score: 4, Funny

    I'm leaving for Tokyo later this month. At least is easier to pronounce than Eyjafjallajokull.

    1. Re:Great by CastrTroy · · Score: 4, Funny

      Thanks. That makes it a whole lot easier to pronounce. It's so obvious now.

      --

      Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
  3. Re:racist html by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    According to tlhIngan (30335) in post #47460141

    Unicode is also supported. It does actually work, just that the whitelist of allowable Unicode codepoints is small. Adding in extra codepoints is on an as-needed basis. You're not likely to see those new emoji anytime soon.

    So it is working as long as you count "not allowed" as "working".

  4. Re:racist html by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    You guys must be new here. There's no Unicode on Slashdot at all.