AI simulation of a Mount Fuji eruption is being used to prepare Tokyo for the worst

Tokyo – Mount Fuji has not broken out since 1707. But for the volcanic day of disaster preparation, Japanese officials have published videos generated by computer and showed a simulation of a potential violent rash of the active volcano.

Videos, published this week, are supposed to prepare the 37 million residents in the largest metropolitan region of Tokyo for potential disasters.

The video of the Metropolitan government of Tokyo warns that an eruption could strike “at any time, without warning”, representing the volcanic ash of Tokyo, about 100 kilometers (60 miles), in a few hours, paralyzing transport, reckoning food and power, and causing long -term respiratory problems.

The video ends with the message: “We have to wear facts and prepare for a disaster in our daily life.” He shows a family pantry filled with canned food and a first aid kit.

The Tokyo government said in a statement that there was currently no signs of Fuji burst. “The simulation is designed to provide residents with specific knowledge and preparation measures that they can take in an emergency,” he said.

But the videos have caused anxiety and confusion among some residents.

“Are there really signs of eruption?” said Shinichiro Kariya, an employee of the 57 -year -old hospital. “Why do we now hear things like ’10 centimeters of ashes could fall”, even in Tokyo? I wonder why it suddenly happens. “”

Hiromi Ooki, who lives in Mishima City, who has essential views of Fuji, said she was planning to buy emergency supplies the next day. “The power of nature is so great that it may be better that it scares us a little,” she said.

The representatives of the Metropolitan Government of Tokyo and the Division of Japan Office Prevention of disaster prevention said that they had not received complaints from Tokyo residents about videos.

Professor of the University of Tokyo and Communication Expert on Risks, Naoya Sekiya, said that the government has shaped scenarios for eruptions and volcanic earthquakes for years, but added that it does not mean that Fuji is about to burst.

“There is no particular meaning at the moment,” said Sekiya.

Japan is very vulnerable to natural disasters due to its climate and topography and is known for its meticulous disaster planning that extends over earthquakes, typhoons, floods, mud shifts and volcanic eruptions.

The Japanese meteorological agency published its first “Advisory Megaquake” last August after a powerful earthquake struck the south-eastern coast of the main southern island of Kyushu.

Out of approximately 1,500 active volcanoes in the world, 111 are in Japan, which is in the “Ring of Fire” of the Pacific.

The Fuji, the highest peak in Japan, has exploded every 30 years, but it has been sleeping since the 18th century.

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Video journalist Ayaka McGill contributed to this report.