Volcano Uptick

On the Jan 12, 2000 Sightings radio show, ZetaTalk predicted in the Predictions for 2000 that the volcano upheaval, such as the undersea upheaval causing the El Nino, will continue and increase. Starting in August, 2000 this was a clear trend.

Daily Dose of Eruptions, Earthquakes gives Japan the Seismic Jitters
By Chisaki Watanbe, Associated Press, August 10, 2000

Will Japan survive the summer? For more than a month, earthquake bulletins have flashed daily across TV screens, sometimes coming every half hour or so. Several quakes have been so strong that the national broadcaster, NHK, has been forced to throw out normal programming and go into its emergency warning mode. And then there are the volcanoes - three of which have belched up large eruptions in the past four months. Although Japan is one of the world's most earthquake- and eruption-prone countries, a flurry of activity lately has been extraordinary - and has become a serious fray on the nation's nerves. Japan's jitters continued Thursday, as a volcano on an island off Tokyo erupted for the fourth time in a month, sending black ash into the sky and forcing the evacuation of more than 600 residents. The eruption of Mount Oyama on Miyakejima, a small resort island with a population of 4,000, was its biggest since 1990. It was not unexpected, either.

Over the past two months, seismographs on Miyake and other islands in the Izu chain have recorded tens of thousands of earthquakes believed to be the result of shifts in huge underground pools of magma. Nearly 12,000 of the quakes have been strong enough to be felt, and some have even swayed buildings in Tokyo and neighboring Yokohama, 190 kilometers (120 miles) away. All of the stronger quakes automatically send Japan's emergency warning system into motion, resulting in news flashes and cautions of possible quake-caused tidal waves. Scientists believe the activity in Izu will continue, but admit they are having trouble predicting just what to expect.

Volcano Eruption Data
Southwest Volcano Research Centre, Apache Junction, Arizona USA
Compiled by R.B. Trombley, Ph. D, Principal Research Volcanologist

Number of Volcanoes Erupted in Past 12 years (data does not include submarine type volcanoes)

1989=46, 1990=32, 1991=40, 1992=50,
1993=44, 1994=44, 1995=45, 1996=35,
1997=33, 1998=36, 1999=48, 2000=51 (so far*)

*Last count made on October 9, 2000