Mount Fuji could, theoretically, erupt at any moment. And the Japanese government is preparing people for that possibility with an AI-generated disaster simulation video.
The Tokyo Metropolitan government doesn’t necessarily think Japan’s tallest peak is going to erupt anytime soon. But it could. You never know.
It’s actually due for a good pop off. The last time it happened was in 1707, so it could happen again any day now, even though there are no signs of that happening.
Just because there’s nothing to suggest that Fuji could erupt soon doesn’t mean we can’t whip up a little mass hysteria about it with an AI-generated video, whose creation probably consumed more energy than Fuji has expended in the past 300 years.
Tokyo Is Bracing for a Mount Fuji Eruption, Even If It’s Not Imminent
The videos, released for Volcanic Disaster Preparedness Day, are meant to prepare Tokyo’s 37 million residents for the possibility that Fuji could wake up one day and destroy the nation. One simulation shows a towering plume of ash blotting out Tokyo’s skyline, paralyzing infrastructure, disrupting food and energy supplies, and making the air unbreathable—all within a matter of hours.
“There’s no particular reason for the timing,” says Naoya Sekiya, a disaster expert from the University of Tokyo, a response that sounds like Sekiya was unprepared for the freak out these videos would cause, even if Sekiya explicitly told the Associated Press that Fuji isn’t going to be erupting anytime soon. They’re only releasing these videos for fun.
On the one hand, officials insist there are no signs of imminent eruption, and on the other hand, they want residents to stock up on canned foods and first aid kits just in case the mountain we’ve been ohh-ing and ahh-ing at for centuries decides to kill us tomorrow.
The sudden shift in tone has left some people freaked out. Hospital worker Shinichiro Kariya voiced the collective unease. The AP spoke to a 57-year-old hospital employee who said it best: “Are there actually any signs of eruption? Why are we now hearing things like ‘10 centimeters of ash could fall,’ even in Tokyo? I’m wondering why this is happening all of a sudden.”
Japan has earned a reputation as one of the world’s best disaster preparedness nations, particularly in the context of volcanic activity. Sitting on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” with 111 active volcanoes will do that to a country.
While there are no actual indications that Mount Fuji is going to erupt that anyone is aware of, government officials figured now is as good a time as any to inform, educate, and make everyone s**t their pants just a little bit.
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