It could happen...

Fuji eruption may displace 750,000

JIJI



Mar 24, 2013


SHIZUOKA – Some 750,000 residents in 14 municipalities in Yamanashi and Shizuoka would need to evacuate in the event of an eruption of Mount Fuji, which straddles both prefectures, a recent estimate shows.

The forecast was presented at a meeting Friday of a joint council of the two prefectures and Kanagawa Prefecture, which adjoins both Shizuoka and Yamanashi. The council plans to draw up evacuation plans by autumn.

The estimated number of people who would be required to evacuate is the largest, at 130,000, in Shizuoka Prefecture areas, including the city of Fuji.

The estimate was based on simulations of lava and pyroclastic flows, or a mix of high-temperature fragments of volcanic origin such as molten rocks, ash and gas, from 3,776-meter-high Mount Fuji, an active volcano.