As Mount Fuji looms tranquilly over Tokyo’s skyline, city officials are racing to prepare for a disaster that has not struck in more than three centuries – but could happen “at any time”.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s new volcano disaster prevention plan outlines which roads will be cleared first and specifies evacuation protocols, in a departure from previous, more general guidelines.
This update, the second in just four months, was prompted by concerns within the metropolitan government that earlier versions of the “Tokyo Regional Disaster Prevention Plan Volcano Edition” lacked sufficient detail and were “too vague” to offer real reassurance or guidance, The Mainichi newspaper reported.
Mount Fuji has not erupted in over 300 years … but an eruption could happen at any time
The initial revision, published in May, drew on a report by the national Central Disaster Management Council from 2020, which modelled a worst-case scenario of persistent west-southwest winds for 15 days, depositing an estimated 120 million cubic metres (4.2 billion cubic feet) of volcanic ash over Tokyo – enough to blanket most of the city, which lies 100km (62 miles) east of Mount Fuji, under 2cm to 10cm (0.8 inches to four inches) of ash.
