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.
They are predicting that it is getting close to an eruption. That's a prediction. Perhaps you were expecting the actual date of the eruption, but to qualify as a prediction they only need to anticipate some aspect of its future behaviour in some way.
From OED:
Predict
VERB
[WITH OBJECT]
Say or estimate that (a specified thing) will happen in the future or will be a consequence of something
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC