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Skyscrapers in Tokyo's Shinjuku district
frame Mt. Fuji at dusk in a 2002
file photo. |
A lack of winter snow on Japan's famed Mount Fuji
has sparked speculation the volcano could erupt for the first time in
three centuries, but experts denied any link between snow and seismic
activity.
Much of Japan has had record snowfall in the last month, but recent
photographs of the usually snowcapped Mount Fuji show its slopes looking
bare.
"A lot of snow fell on Mount Fuji, but it was blown off by strong
winds," a city official in Fujiyoshida near Mount Fuji said.
Some tabloids have taken the snowless peak as a sign that an eruption
was imminent, but scientists said there was no basis for concern.
"There is no link whatsoever between the scarcity of snow on Mount Fuji
and volcanic activities there," said a scientist at the volcano section of
Japan's Meteorological Agency.
The nearly conical Fuji is classified as a dormant
volcano since it last erupted in 1707, but the government was
rattled in November 2000 when the number of small earthquakes shaking the
peak jumped to more than 200 from a monthly average of around 20.
Japan, which lies at the intersection of several tectonic
plates, is regularly rattled by
tremors of varying strength, with volcanic eruptions not infrequent.
(Agencies) |
日本著名的富士山由于冬雪稀少，很多人猜測這座沉睡了三百年之久的火山可能要爆發了。但是有關專家們說雪的多少和地殼運動之間沒有任何聯系。
上個月，日本很多地方像往年一樣，都下了雪，但是從近來的一些照片上可以看到，以往被白雪覆蓋的富士山頂如今已經露了出來。
富士山附近吉田市的一名市政官員說，"富士山上曾經下了很多雪，但是后來被大風吹走了。"
一些小報則對此大做文章，說山頂無雪是火山爆發的征兆，但科學家們說這種"擔憂"是毫無科學依據的。
日本氣象廳火山研究所的一位科學家說，富士山頂的雪變少和火山運動之間是沒有什么聯系的。
這座類似圓錐形的火山最后一次爆發是在1707年，之后被歸為"休眠火山"。但是在2000年11月，日本政府大傷腦筋，因為富士山上小地震不斷，從平均每月20次左右飆升到200次之多。
日本位于幾個地質板塊的交界處，經常受到不同等級的地震的侵襲，偶然也會有火山爆發。
(中國日報網站編譯) |
Updated: 2006-01-16 08:35
