notable japanese volcanic eruptions

ERUPTION OF SHINMOEDAKE

LESSONS LEARNED FROM PAST NOTABLE DISASTERS

JAPAN PART 3: VOLCANIC

ERUPTIONS

NATURAL HAZARDS THAT PLACE JAPAN’S NATURAL HAZARDS THAT PLACE JAPAN’S COMMUNITIES AT RISK COMMUNITIES AT RISK

EARTHQUAKES

TYPHOONS

FLOODS

LANDSLIDES

VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS

GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE

ENACT AND IMPLEMENT POLICIES HAVING HIGH BENEFIT/COST FOR COMMUNITY RESILIENCE

GOAL: DISASTER GOAL: DISASTER RESILIENCERESILIENCE

REGIONAL MAP

542 OF THE 1,500 ACTIVE VOLCANOES ARE LOCATED IN “RING OF FIRE”

Japan lies along the Pacific Ring of Fire, a narrow zone around the Pacific Ocean

where most of Earth's earthquakes and volcanic

eruptions occur.

VOLCANOES

VOLCANOES ERUPT EVERY YEAR IN JAPAN AS A RESULT OF COMPLEX

INTERACTIONS OF THE PACIFIC, PHILIPPINE, EURASIAN, AND NORTH

AMERICAN PLATES

JAPAN’S VOLCANO FACTS

• Of the 1,500 active volcanoes in the world, Japan has 108 of them.

JAPAN’S VOLCANO FACTS

• Japan experiences an average of 10 volcanic eruptions per year.

LATERAL BLAST

VOLCANICERUPTIONS

PYROCLASTIC FLOWS

FLYING DEBRIS

VOLCANIC ASH

LAVA FLOWS

LAHARS

TOXIC GASES

CAUSES OF RISK

CASE HISTORIES

JAPAN’SJAPAN’S

COMMUNITIESCOMMUNITIESDATA BASES DATA BASES AND INFORMATIONAND INFORMATION

HAZARDS: GROUND SHAKING GROUND FAILURE SURFACE FAULTING TECTONIC DEFORMATION TSUNAMI RUN UP AFTERSHOCKS

• VOLCANO HAZARDS• PEOPLE & BLDGS. • VULNERABILITY• LOCATION

VOLCANO RISK VOLCANO RISK

RISK

ACCEPTABLE RISK

UNACCEPTABLE RISK

GOAL: VOLCANO GOAL: VOLCANO DISASTER RESILIENCEDISASTER RESILIENCE

• PREPAREDNESS• PROTECTION• EARLY WARNING• EMERGENCY RESPONSE• RECOVERY and RECONSTRUCTION

POLICY OPTIONSPOLICY OPTIONS

VOLCANO HAZARDS CAN HAVE FAR REACHING IMPACTS

• VERTICAL PLUME (can affect jet aircraft)

• ASH AND TEPHRA• LATERAL BLAST• PYROCLASTIC CLOUDS,

BURSTS, AND FLOWS

VOLCANO HAZARDS CAN HAVE FAR REACHING IMPACTS

• LAVA FLOWS• LAHARS (can bury villages)• EARTHQUAKES (related to

movement of lava)• “VOLCANIC WINTER” (causing

famine and mass extinctions)

ERUPTION OF SHINMOEDAKE

JAPAN’S MOST NOTABLE VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS

MOUNT UNZEN--MAY 21, 1792

MT. UNZEN

• Mt. Unzen’s eruption on May 21, 1792, was one of the worst in Japan’s long history of volcanic eruptions.

• Mount Unzen is located near the city of Shimabara in Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu

MT UNZEN: 1792

REMEMBERING THE MAY 21, 1792’S DISASTER

• About 1 month after the lava from Mt Unzen’s eruption stopped flowing, a massive landslide on the flank of nearby Mount Mayuyama swept through ancient Shimabara City, entered the sea, and generated a tsunami.

• More than 15,000 people were killed by the landslide and tsunami

JAPAN’S VOLCANO FACTS• Mt. Unzen and Mt. Sakurajima are

considered to be two of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world because of their potential for a violent eruption that would have devastating impacts on the surrounding high-density population centers..

SOME OF JAPAN’S CURRENTLY ACTIVE VOLCANOES

• Mount MeakanMount UsuMount AsamaTorishimaSakurajimaSuwanosejimaOyama

SHINMOEDAKE ERUPTS IN JAPAN

eruption began at 7:30 AM

Although called a minor eruption, it was the largest eruption since 1959

JANUARY 26-31, 2011

SHINMOEDAKE; JANUARY 26-31, 2011

JAPAN HAS 104 ACTIVE VOLCANOES

The 1,421-m (4,662-ft) Mount Shinmoedake is a part of the Kirishima volcano complex comprised of 20 active volcanoes

Mount Shinmoedake is located on the border of the

Miyazaki and Kagoshima prefectures

In the previous four months, Miyazaki prefecture had also suffered from an epidemic of the H5N1 bird flu, and a foot-and-mouth epidemic that was expected to cause ~ $ 2 billion in economic losses for the local livestock industry.

The inflation of the Shinmoedake volcano that eventually culminated in an

eruption had been underway since December 2009

May 10, 2010 to January 26, 2011: ~6 million m3 (0.006 km3) of

magma in a reservoir at 6 km depth ~10 km west-nw from Shinmoedake and another 1 million m3 (0.001 km3) of magma at 3 km depth under the

Shinmoedake cone itself.

The eruption produced lava fountains, andesitic lava flows, lightning, and ash emissions

that reached a height of nearly 5 miles (7.5 km)

ERUPTION OF SHINMOEDAKE

IMPACTS

Approximately 13,000 hectares of farm land were damaged by the falling ash deposits.

Flights in the region were canceled and 1,100 people in the vicinity were evacuated to gymnasiums and other

facilities in the town of Takaharu, seven miles east

of Kirishima.

ERUPTION VIEWED FROM TAKAHARU

POLICY POLICY ADOPTIONADOPTION

RISK ASSESSMENT

• VULNERABILITYVULNERABILITY

• EXPOSUREEXPOSURE

• EVENTEVENT

POLICY ASSESSMENT

• COSTCOST

• BENEFITBENEFIT

•CONSEQUENCESCONSEQUENCES

TOWARDS DISASTER RISK REDUCTION TOWARDS DISASTER RISK REDUCTION FOR VOLCANOESFOR VOLCANOES

VOLCANIC VOLCANIC ERUPTIONSERUPTIONS EXPECTED EXPECTED

LOSSLOSS

THE KEYS TO RESILIENCE: 1) KNOW THE ERUPTIVE HISTORY OF

YOUR REGION’S VOLCANOES,2) BE PREPARED

3) HAVE A WARNING SYSTEM 4) EVACUATE

5) LEARN FROM THE EXPERIENCE AND START OVER

MONITORING TECHNOLOGIES AND WARNING SYSTEMS ARE A VITAL PART OF SURVIVAL.

AIR AND LAND MONITORING TECHNOLOGIES ARE VITAL

.