According to a new study by Kobe University earth scientists, Japan could be nearly destroyed by a massive volcanic eruption over the next century. The experts said they analyzed the scale and frequency of volcanic eruptions in the archipelago nation over the past 120 000 years and calculated that the odds of a devastating eruption at about one percent over the next 100 years.
Japan is home to about seven percent of the volcanoes that have erupted over the past 10 000 years.
Volcanoes which have erupted within the past 10,000 years or volcanoes with vigorous fumarolic activity. CLICK ON THE IMAGE FOR THE LARGER VIEW. (Credit: Geological Survey of Japan)
The chance of a major earthquake striking the city of Kobe within 30 years was estimated at about one percent just a day before a 7.2-magnitude quake destroyed the Japanese port city in 1995, killing 6 400 people and injuring nearly 4 400 others...
