Mt. Ontake eruption 5 years Volcanic activity decline calls for safety measures September 27th 4:06
It is five years in 27 days from the eruption of Mt. Ontake that killed 63 people. Volcanic activity is decreasing, but fumaroles are still rising from some craters, and the Japan Meteorological Agency is calling for safety measures such as wearing helmets when climbing mountains, paying attention to local regulations .
An eruption occurred suddenly on the southwestern slope of the highest peak, Kengamine on September 27, 2014 at Mt. Ontake on the prefectural border between Nagano and Gifu.
Since it was noon on Saturday during the autumnal season, there were many climbers near the top of the mountain, and 58 people died after hitting a cinder. I still don't know where the five are.
Later, volcanic activity gradually declined, and after three years from the eruption, the eruption alert level was lowered to the lowest level.
According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, Mt. Ontake now has little seismic activity and no volcanic gas has been observed. On the other hand, in the part of the crater where the eruption occurred, active fumarolic activity continues.
For this reason, the Japan Meteorological Agency will continue with eruption warning level 1 and note that a very small eruption such as volcanic ash may occur suddenly in the range of about 500 meters from the active crater. Is calling for.
Currently, it is possible to climb up to the summit on some mountain trails. The Japan Meteorological Agency is calling for safety measures such as wearing a helmet when climbing, even if the eruption alert level is 1, not entering the place regulated by the local government.
To increase information transmission of climbers
At Mt. Ontake, the entry restrictions near the summit have been lifted for some time in the summer mountain season, and as the number of climbers increases, the issue is how to raise awareness of being a volcano.
On the 27th, five years after the eruption, a memorial ceremony was held in Otaki Village, Nagano Prefecture, at the base of the eruption. At 11:52 am, the same time that the bereaved family and local officials erupted, the victim was silently mourned. The
That is, Kiso Town, Nagano Prefecture, entered the summer mountain season for the first time after the eruption and lifted some of the restrictions, allowing climbing to the summit from July to mid-next month.
In the summary of Nagano Prefecture, the number of climbers who submitted mountain climbing plans on the Nagano side in the two months to last month was more than 9,800, an increase of about 2.6 times compared to the same period last year.
Otaki Village, where there is another mountain peak, is also planning to lift access restrictions in the future, and if that happens, the number of climbers is expected to increase. While many people are climbing, safety measures such as how to call for quick evacuation when an eruption occurs again on Mt.
In addition, the issue is how to give each climber awareness of the fact that the volcano does not know when the eruption will occur.
Changing information content is a challenge for practical use
In the eruption of Mt. Ontake 5 years ago, the state of volcanic information became a problem, and the Japan Meteorological Agency changed some of the contents of “Eruption Warning Level” and “Commentary Information” and also announced a new “Eruption Bulletin” started. However, there are still many voices such as “I do not know how to deal with it” five years later, and there are still problems in actual use.
The Japan Meteorological Agency operates an “eruption warning level” that divides the risk into five levels according to the volcanic activity. The eruption of Mt. Ontake five years ago erupted at the lowest “eruption alert level 1”. At that time, the Japan Meteorological Agency expressed "level 1" volcanoes as "normal", but it was pointed out that it would lead to a misunderstanding that it was safe.
For this reason, the Japan Meteorological Agency changed the term “normal” to “notice that it is an active volcano”. At Mt. Ontake, volcanic earthquakes have been increasing about two weeks before the eruption, so the Japan Meteorological Agency has released information on the activity status of the volcano called “commentary information”.
However, this information was not fully communicated to climbers. For this reason, the Japan Meteorological Agency will not raise the eruption warning level, but if there is an unusual change in volcanic activity, it will be announced as "extraordinary".
The country is calling on local governments around the volcano to consider in advance the specific response to this information when it is announced. The eruption of Mt. Ontake killed many climbers near the crater, but the Meteorological Agency first announced the fact of the eruption about 8 minutes after the eruption.
In response to this, the Japan Meteorological Agency has introduced an “eruption flash report” that tells the fact of an eruption within minutes of the eruption so that climbers and others can take action to save their lives.
These information changed the lesson of Mt. Ontake eruption, but now five years later, the local government and the general public are saying, “I do not know how to take it,” “It is difficult to take disaster prevention measures”. The The challenge is how to actually use the information to prevent the eruption disaster like Mt. Ontake 5 years ago.