The Hōei eruption of
Mount Fuji
, or Fugaku, located on the island of Honshū, is the highest mountain in Japan, with a summit elevation of . It is the second-highest volcano located on an island in Asia (after Mount Kerinci on the island of Sumatra), and seventh-highest p ...
started on December 16, 1707 (23rd day of the 11th month of the year
Hōei
was a after Genroku and before Shōtoku''.'' This period spanned the years from March 1704 through April 1711. The reigning emperors were and .
Change of era
* 1704 : In reaction to the Great Genroku earthquake in Genroku 16, the era name w ...
4) and ended on February 24, 1708. It was the last confirmed eruption of Mount Fuji, with three unconfirmed eruptions being reported from 1708 to 1854.
It is well known for the immense ash-fall it produced over eastern
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
, and subsequent landslides and starvation across the country.
Hokusai
, known simply as Hokusai, was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist of the Edo period, active as a painter and printmaker. He is best known for the woodblock printing in Japan, woodblock print series ''Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji'', which includes the ...
's ''
One Hundred Views of Mount Fuji
is a series of three illustrated books by Japanese ukiyo-e artist Hokusai. It is considered one of Japan's most exceptional illustrated books (''e-hon''), and alongside the '' Hokusai Manga'', the most influential in the West. The first two vol ...
'' includes an image of the small crater at a secondary eruption site on the southwestern slope. The area where the eruption occurred is called ''
Mount Hōei
Mount Hōei (, ''Hōeizan'') is a flank volcano on the southeastern side of Mount Fuji in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. It emerged as a result of the 1707–1708 Hōei eruption of Mount Fuji. Its height is 2,693 meters above sea level, and its na ...
'' because it occurred in the fourth year of the
Hōei era.
Today, the crater of the main eruption can be visited from the Fujinomiya or Gotemba Trails on Mount Fuji.
Extent of eruption
![Mount Hoei from Jurigi](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/99/Mount_Hoei_from_Jurigi.jpg)
Three years before the eruption, rumbling began in 1704 from February 4 to February 7. One to two months before the eruption earthquakes could be felt around the base of the volcano, with magnitudes reaching as high as 5. The event was characterized as a
plinian eruption, with
pumice
Pumice (), called pumicite in its powdered or dust form, is a volcanic rock that consists of highly vesicular rough-textured volcanic glass, which may or may not contain crystals. It is typically light-colored. Scoria is another vesicular vol ...
,
scoria
Scoria is a pyroclastic, highly vesicular, dark-colored volcanic rock that was ejected from a volcano as a molten blob and cooled in the air to form discrete grains or clasts.Neuendorf, K.K.E., J.P. Mehl, Jr., and J.A. Jackson, eds. (2005) ''G ...
, and
ash
Ash or ashes are the solid remnants of fires. Specifically, ''ash'' refers to all non-aqueous, non- gaseous residues that remain after something burns. In analytical chemistry, to analyse the mineral and metal content of chemical samples, ash ...
being shot into the
stratosphere
The stratosphere () is the second layer of the atmosphere of the Earth, located above the troposphere and below the mesosphere. The stratosphere is an atmospheric layer composed of stratified temperature layers, with the warm layers of air ...
and raining down far east of the volcano. Landslides soon followed the eruption due to heavy rainfall and flooding in the area.
The eruption happened on
Mount Fuji
, or Fugaku, located on the island of Honshū, is the highest mountain in Japan, with a summit elevation of . It is the second-highest volcano located on an island in Asia (after Mount Kerinci on the island of Sumatra), and seventh-highest p ...
's east–northeast flank and formed three new volcanic vents, named No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3 Hōei vents. The catastrophe developed over several days; an initial earthquake and explosion of cinders and ash were followed some days later with the more forceful ejections of rocks and stones.
[Smith, Henry (1988). ''Hokusai: One Hundred Views of Mt. Fuji''. p. 197.] The Hōei eruption is said to have caused the worst ash-fall disaster in Japanese history.
Although it brought no lava flow, the Hōei eruption released some of volcanic ash, which spread over vast areas around the volcano, even reaching
Edo
Edo ( ja, , , "bay-entrance" or "estuary"), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo.
Edo, formerly a ''jōkamachi'' (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the ''de facto'' capital of ...
almost away. Cinders and ash fell like rain in
Izu Izu may refer to:
Places
*Izu Province, a part of modern-day Shizuoka prefecture in Japan
**Izu, Shizuoka, a city in Shizuoka prefecture
**Izu Peninsula, near Tokyo
**Izu Islands, located off the Izu Peninsula
People with the surname
*, Japane ...
,
Kai,
Sagami Sagami may refer to:
* Sagami, an 11th-century ''waka'' poet
*Sagami Province, an old province in Japan
*Sagami River, a river in Kanagawa and Yamanashi
*Sagami Bay, a bay south of Kanagawa Prefecture in Honshū
*Sagami Line, a railway roughly along ...
, and
Musashi provinces, and ashfall was recorded in
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
and
Yokohama
is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of To ...
to the east of the volcano. In Edo, the volcanic ash was several centimeters thick. Ash that was released from the eruption fell to the earth and covered many crops in the area, stunting growth. There is no estimate for how many deaths were a result of the eruption. The eruption is rated a 5 on the
Volcanic Explosivity Index.
Effect on local population
The Hōei eruption, from 1707–1708 had a disastrous effect on the people living in the Fuji region. The
tephra
Tephra is fragmental material produced by a volcanic eruption regardless of composition, fragment size, or emplacement mechanism.
Volcanologists also refer to airborne fragments as pyroclasts. Once clasts have fallen to the ground, they rem ...
released from the volcano caused an agricultural decline, leading many in the Fuji area to starve to death.
Volcanic ash fell and widely covered the cultivated fields east of Mount Fuji. To recover the fields farmers cast volcanic products out to dumping grounds making piles. The rain washed material from the dumping grounds away to the rivers and made some of the rivers shallower, especially the
Sakawa River
The is a river in Shizuoka Prefecture and Kanagawa Prefecture Japan. In Shizuoka Prefecture it is called the Ayuzawa River. It flows into the Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions ...
, into which huge volumes of ash fell, resulting in temporary dams. Heavy rainfall on 7–8 August 1708, the year following the Hōei eruption, caused an avalanche of volcanic ash and mud, breaking the dams and flooding the Ashigara plain.
Many of the casualties caused by the Hōei eruption were due to flooding, landslides, and famine after the fact. As ash fell after the eruption, crops began to fail, leading to widespread starvation in the
Edo
Edo ( ja, , , "bay-entrance" or "estuary"), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo.
Edo, formerly a ''jōkamachi'' (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the ''de facto'' capital of ...
(renamed Tokyo in 1869) area. Due to debris that included large rocks, floodwater, and ash, people could also not move easily to other places, which led to further casualties from hunger in the Edo area.
Tectonic setting and the threat of more eruptions
Japan is located in the most geologically active region of Earth, called
The Ring of Fire. This region is known for its many volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. The Hōei eruption was preceded by a massive
magnitude 8.6 earthquake, just 49 days before the eruption. Many
volcanologists
Volcanology (also spelled vulcanology) is the study of volcanoes, lava, magma and related geological, geophysical and geochemical phenomena (volcanism). The term ''volcanology'' is derived from the Latin word ''vulcan''. Vulcan was the anci ...
believe that this earthquake was likely the cause of the eruption.
Based on the internal pressure inside the volcano that scientists measured in 2012, speculation of a possible eruption is high. Damage is estimated to cost Japan over US$25 billion. It is assumed that, much like the 1707 Hōei eruption, the volcano would almost certainly erupt if there was another earthquake such as the 1707 Hōei earthquake. A repeat of the 1707 Hōei eruption is also said to impact over 30 million people in the highly populated areas of eastern
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
,
Kanagawa
is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the List of Japanese prefectures by population, second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-dens ...
,
Chiba
Chiba may refer to:
Places China
* (), town in Jianli County, Jingzhou, Hubei
Japan
* Chiba (city), capital of Chiba Prefecture
** Chiba Station, a train station
* Chiba Prefecture, a sub-national jurisdiction in the Greater Tokyo Area on ...
and parts of
Yamanashi,
Saitama, and
Shizuoka
Shizuoka can refer to:
* Shizuoka Prefecture, a Japanese prefecture
* Shizuoka (city), the capital city of Shizuoka Prefecture
* Shizuoka Airport
* Shizuoka Domain, the name from 1868 to 1871 for Sunpu Domain, a predecessor of Shizuoka Prefecture
...
. The volcano would most heavily affect Tokyo, and would likely cause power outages, water shortages, and malfunctions in the highly technical city.
See also
*
1707 Hōei earthquake
The struck south-central Japan at 14:00 local time on 28 October. It was the largest earthquake in Japanese history until it was surpassed by the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake. It caused moderate to severe damage throughout southwestern Honshu, Sh ...
*
Historic eruptions of Mount Fuji
Mount Fuji is the tallest volcano in Japan, and also the highest peak. The latest eruption of Mount Fuji was in 1707, and it was triggered by an earthquake.
The mountain as it appears now is the "New Fuji volcano", which began to erupt about 10 ...
*
Mount Hōei
Mount Hōei (, ''Hōeizan'') is a flank volcano on the southeastern side of Mount Fuji in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. It emerged as a result of the 1707–1708 Hōei eruption of Mount Fuji. Its height is 2,693 meters above sea level, and its na ...
References
External links
富士山火山防災協議会(Council for Fuji volcano disaster reduction)
富士山宝永噴火(1707)後の土砂災害(PDF)(Distribution of sediment disasters after the 1707 Hoei eruption of Fuji Volcano in central Japan, based on historical documents)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoei Eruption Of Mount Fuji
1707 in Japan
1707 natural disasters
18th-century volcanic events
Mount Fuji
Plinian eruptions
Hōei eruption
The Hōei eruption of Mount Fuji started on December 16, 1707 (23rd day of the 11th month of the year Hōei 4) and ended on February 24, 1708. It was the last confirmed eruption of Mount Fuji, with three unconfirmed eruptions being reported from ...
Volcanic eruptions in Japan
Landslides in Japan