Mount Fuji: Fault Beneath Japan's Mountain Could Trigger Quake, Survey Finds

(Fixes typo in last paragraph)

TOKYO, May 10 (Reuters) - Japan's Mount Fuji may be sitting on a large, active fault that could trigger a magnitude-7 earthquake, changing the shape of the mountain and devastating nearby communities, the education ministry said on Thursday.

A survey commissioned by the ministry found a 30-km fault beneath Japan's highest mountain, believed by many to be sacred, and research results indicate it was likely to be active, a ministry official said.

If the fault sets off an earthquake, it could lead to a major landslide and hit communities at the foot of the 3,776-metre-high mountain. Further research was required, the official said.

A magnitude-9 earthquake and massive tsunami hit northern Japan last year, leaving nearly 19,000 people dead or missing and causing the world's worst nuclear disaster in 25 years.

An earthquake in 1707 caused Fuji to erupt and killed an estimated 20,000 people. (Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka; Editing by Nick Macfie)

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Comments

[Dominic]

11:39 PM on 05/28/2012

Tokyo itself is overdue a massive earthquake.

I'm not sure why Mt Fuji warrants special attention.

It's an active volcano. Blowing up sometimes is what they do.

[stephengn1]

10:16 PM on 05/12/2012

Volcanoes and their ash - one more reason not to build nuclear power plants.

[undsoweiter]

11:05 AM on 05/12/2012

!?!
I hope everyone is aware that earthquakes didn't just start happening in Japan last year.
Japan only exists because of the tectonic interaction of five plates. Without earthquakes and volcanoes, Japan would probably be seabed.
Earthquakes of magnitudes up to 4 are a daily event, and have been since dinosaurs walked the earth.
Fiji-san is an active volcano, and can be expected to be associated with any number of equally active faults.
Japan is the most thouroughly studied geology on earth.
This isn't news.

[eric14]

02:37 PM on 05/12/2012

Updates are allowed.

[Brianna Cole]

06:27 AM on 05/12/2012

I hate you HP. Why do you tell me these things.

[plans includingdog]

03:38 PM on 05/11/2012

Lahars are possible.Pyroclastic flow will happen.There may be a large ash cloud.There may be a lava flow.

[kareemachan]

08:46 AM on 05/13/2012

There may be Godzilla.

[kareemachan]

08:47 AM on 05/13/2012

Or Mothra.

[plans includingdog]

03:33 PM on 05/11/2012

It will erupt again.Earthquakes trigger eruptions.I feel that Fuji may be overdue to erupt.An earthquake could trigger a Fuji, an explosive volcano,That is explosive despite the effusive nature of basalt.It would be dangerous.

[Hugatreetoday]

03:00 PM on 05/11/2012

So this would make it Japan's fault, right?

[ThinkCreeps]

03:41 PM on 05/11/2012

All the faults are still Bush's.

[kareemachan]

08:46 AM on 05/13/2012

That's for darned sure.

;-p

[Mike Block]

01:27 PM on 05/11/2012

Please excuse the typos in my previous post, I was eating lunch and typing one-handed. : )

[Zewee]

03:29 PM on 05/11/2012

LOL that'll teach you to type with your mouth full