Japan AI emulates Mount Fuji eruption

Japan has already unveiled an AI-generated video that simulates an eruption at Mount Fuji and displays ash clouds drifting over Tokyo, halting transport, cutting power and advising citizens to hoard food and don protective gear. Released on the Volcano Disaster Prevention Day, the film is part of an effort by Japan to sensitise people about volcanic dangers, even as there is no imminent eruption threat.

Mount Fuji's Volcanic Status

Mount Fuji, which last erupted in 1707, is an active volcano with the capacity to erupt. Governments take such events to remind the populace of the distinctions:

• Active volcanoes - are still linked with magma chambers.
• Danone volcanoes - these are dormant volcanoes which have been quiet but can erupt.
• Dormant volcanoes - no longer attached to magma.

Purpose of the AI Video

Published on 26 August, the video coincides with the 100th anniversary of the first volcano observatory in Japan (1911). It tries to equip citizens with worst case scenarios. Some analysts have expressed concern that it will generate panic or impact tourism, but others have seen it as an education on preparedness, particularly following the 2011 Tohoku quake and tsunami, which perhaps made people realise how unprepared they are.

How Volcanic Eruptions Work

Volcanoes are created when magma advances upwards through the crust of the earth, and bursts out as lava, ash, and gases. Key hazards include:

• Lava flows - settlements destroyed.
• Ash clouds - drifting across and disturbing life.
• Steam-blast eruptions - unexpected and hard to predict.

Prediction Challenges

It is difficult to predict eruptions. Warning signs include:

• Magma movement causes seismic activity.
• The swelling or deformation of the ground.
• There is a change in heat and water chemistry.

However, volcanoes can be quiet over a period of years, then suddenly erupt and prove hard to predict.

Surveillance and Readiness.

Abnormal eruption cycles and the lack of historical data makes monitoring difficult. As in the case of Campi Flegrei in Italy, the disquiet can take decades before it subsides. Japan emphasizes constant inspection, disaster exercise and awareness of people as a key to protection in case of the eruption of Mount Fuji.