Something's missing here. I have heard most of my life that eruptions are preceded by warning signs. While we may not know when a lahar will hit, we should know about an eruption before it occurs. This eruption sounded sudden, but I need to know more. Did they mess up with how soon an eruption could occur, or did they have no warning whatsoever?
The Associated Press screwed up big time. Weather.com has at least provided a little more information, but they also omitted information that I find important. I was forced to do the media's job on this one. Translations from websites are a little iffy, but my understanding is that there were some concerns earlier this month (10th and 11th). It also sounds like activity subsided a bit.
The translation for an article can be found at: https://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&hl=en&ie=UTF8&prev=_t&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http://www.asahi.com/articles/ASG9W5Q0NG9WUTIL020.html&usg=ALkJrhgUMuKuMAjlaxSUG3nCR5UPRZ3SZg
The most important thing to note is that the Japan Meteorological Agency ranked the volcano as an alert level of one. I have some good news on this one. The Japanese have provided us with an English guide for the alert levels. It can be found at: http://www.data.jma.go.jp/svd/vois/data/tokyo/STOCK/kaisetsu/English/level.html
Basically, Ontake was reported as though it was normal. There was no warning of any sort for those who were climbing the mountain.
This is foreign news, so it makes sense that we don't obsess. I'm not saying this to diminish the value of those who were trapped on that mountain, but to acknowledge that we have our own concerns. That said, this has significance here in the United States. We are part of the ring of fire. How are we supposed to know that we won't see the same kind of incident out here?
The American media, the Associated Press in particular, should be absolutely embarrassed right now. This may not be the story of the century, but it is definitely relevant to our country. This incident should raise some important questions. It might be nice if we could have some answers. I'm not a vulcanologist, so I really don't know the following.
Can this happen here?
Although Japan seems like they should be among the stronger nations in terms of volcano studies, we might have technology that they don't. How confident are we that we could catch what the Japanese missed?
What about under-monitored volcanoes?
This isn't just about the most noteworthy volcanoes. It has been well established that a number of dangerous volcanoes lack sufficient monitoring. Could this increase the chance of missing a similar incident?
Do stronger eruptions produce better signals?
Ontake wasn't among the most significant eruptions we have seen. Could the relatively small size have made the signs more difficult to see? More importantly, can a larger eruption be missed for similar reasons?
Let me finish this up
It's no secret that I hate the American media. We just had a story that has some serious value to our country... or at least the West Coast. Perhaps that is why this story is being under-reported with important information conveniently omitted. The media is always sucking up to the east while giving the West the middle finger. In all fairness, I might be a little touchier than most on this subject. After all, I live in the same county as a mountain that many consider to be the most dangerous volcano in America. Even so, I feel that the media has messed up again.
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