Volcano Impacts Case Study - Japan (AC)

Question 1

How many active volcanoes does Japan have?

Answer 1

110 active volcanoes including off shore underwater volcanoes.

Question 2

How much of Japan’s land is mountainous?

Answer 2

70%.

Question 3

How many volcanic eruptions has Japan experienced in the last 2000 years?

Answer 3

Nearly 1200.

Question 4

What type of volcano is Mount Ontake in Japan?

Answer 4

A strato-volcano.

Question 5

Where is Mount Ontake in Japan?

Answer 5

200km west of Tokyo, on the island Honshu.

Question 6

How tall is Mount Ontake?

Answer 6

Over 3km.

Question 7

In what 4 years did Mount Ontake erupt in recent history before 2014?

Answer 7

1979, 1980, 1991, and 2007.

Question 8

When did Mount Ontake experience a major eruption?

Answer 8

September 27, 2014.

Question 9

What two major impacts did the 2014 Mount Ontake eruption have?

Answer 9

• 63 people were killed.
• Large areas were affected by ash fall, pyroclastic flow, volcanic bombs and lahars.

Question 10

What two benefits does Japan have from being in a tectonically active area?

Answer 10

• Fertile soils allows just 13% of the land area to be used as it can be intensively farmed.
• There have been some small scale geothermal power plants since the 1960s.

Question 11

What is the main issue with utilising geothermal power in Japan?

Answer 11

Nearly 80% of geothermal energy sources are located under national parks or other protected land such as hot springs.