Eruption Attacked Self-defense Force

Mt. Kusatsu-Shirane erupted in Tuesday morning, causing one death and eleven injuries in ski area nearby. Japan Meteorological Agency failed in predicting the eruption and warning them of possible damages. The death was brought on a member of Self-defence Force, who was in training in the snowy mountain. The tragedy proved that the biggest enemy of the Japanese is not some provocative nations around, but natural disasters.

According to the announcement JMA, the eruption was taken place around a pond called Kagami-ike close to Motoshirane Peak on 9:59. Smoke ascended so high into the cloud over the mountain that the agency could not determine the altitude it reached. The eruption dropped countless volcanic stones on Kusatsu International Ski Area. It was the first eruption of Mt. Kusatsu-Shirane in these three thousand years.

12^th Helicopter Company in 12^th Brigade of Ground Self-defense Force was in training for winter operation with skiing there. 8 members out of 30 were hit by falling stones. 1 died with a hit on his breast. 2 fell in a serious condition for their lives. 3 suffered from heavy injury such as breaking bones and the rest of 2 were in minor injuries.

The stones assaulted ski gondolas in operation. 2 people in a gondola were injured by stones suddenly plunged into their cabin. The roof of a rest house in the ski area was broken by falling stones and power cable was cut off, causing blackout in the region. About 80 people, including 19 foreign travelers, left around the peak were rescued by Self-defense Force and transported by a helicopter.

Mt. Kusatsu-Shirane made a phreatic eruption in 1983. As realizing high concentration of volcanic gas, JMA raised volcanic alert of the mountain to 2 in 2014. However, the agency decided to drop it down last June, recognizing no sign of major eruption. “We did not see any observational data of boosting volcanic activities before the eruption,” told a director of JMA in the press conference, defending the agency of its failure in prediction.

Over ten eruptions around Yugama have been recorded since 1800. Eruption around Kagami-ike Pond has not recorded for these 3,000 years. It may be reasonable that no expert on volcanology could imagine this Monday explosion around Kagami-ike. But, there is a possibility that minor eruption around the pond is dropped from the record. Undeniable truth is that Japan is the nest of volcanoes, which eruption can cause a number of death or social damage. The tragedy on a man with SDF must be a lesson that Japanese government should rather be ready for unpredictable disaster than planting regional insecurity with enhancement of military readiness.