Mount Ontake

Volcanic mountain on the island of Honshu, Japan From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mount Ontakemap

Mount Ontake (御嶽山, Ontake-san), also referred to as Mount Kiso Ontake (木曽御嶽山, Kiso Ontake-san), is the 14th-highest mountain and second-highest volcano in Japan (after Mount Fuji) at 3,067 m (10,062 ft).[3] It is included in Kyūya Fukada's 1964 book 100 Famous Japanese Mountains.

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Mount Ontake
御嶽山
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Viewed from Kuzo Pass of Route 361
Highest point
Elevation3,067 m (10,062 ft)[1]
Prominence1,712 m (5,617 ft)[2]
ListingUltra, Ribu
100 famous mountains in Japan
Coordinates35°53′34″N 137°28′49″E[1]
Geography
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Mount Ontake
Japan
LocationGifu and Nagano, Chūbu region, Japan
Topo map(s)Geographical Survey Institute, 25000:1 御嶽山, 50000:1 御嶽山
Geology
Mountain typeStratovolcano
Last eruptionOctober 2014
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Description

Mt. Ontake is located around 100 km (62 mi) northeast of Nagoya, and around 200 km (120 mi) west of Tokyo, at the borders of Kiso and Ōtaki, Nagano and Gero, Gifu. The volcano has five volcanic crater lakes, with Ni no Ike (二ノ池) at 2,905 m (9,531 ft) being the highest mountain lake in Japan.[citation needed]

Ontake is a major sacred mountain, and following shugendō practices, actors and artists have gone to the mountain to put themselves into trances to get divine inspiration for their creative activities.[4]

Eruptions

Ontake was thought to be inactive until October 1979, when it underwent a series of explosive phreatic eruptions which ejected 200,000 tons of ash, and had a volcanic explosivity index (VEI) of 2.[5] There were minor non-explosive (VEI 0) phreatic eruptions in 1991 and 2007.[5]

On September 27, 2014, at around 11:53 a.m. Japan Standard Time (UTC +9),[6] the volcano erupted with a VEI of 3.[7][8] The eruption was phreatic—caused by groundwater flashing to steam in a hydrothermal explosion—and there were no significant earthquakes that might have warned authorities in the lead up to it.[9] The eruption was an extremely rare phenomenon, which made it difficult to take precautionary measures.[10][11] At the time of the eruption, several hiking parties were undertaking ascents and descents of Ontake, with emergency descents having to be undertaken in the presence of ash clouds and falling rocks.[12] 63 people were killed; five bodies were never found.[13]

See also

References

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