The eruption of Mount Oyama was its biggest since 1990. Scientists believe the volcanic activity will continue, but admit they are having trouble predicting what will happen. To the legions of nervous Japanese seeking reassurance, that's not much consolation. Japan's capital has repeatedly been devastated by earthquakes. The Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 and the fires that it touched off killed 142,000 people and left an estimated 1.6 million people homeless.
Most experts agree that, based on historical cycles, Tokyo is now overdue for another big quake.
A government report released last year estimated that about 7,100 people would likely die and 500,000 homes be destroyed if a magnitude 7 quake hit the city today. If any explorers had been hiking to the North Pole this summer, they would have had to swim the last few miles. The discovery of open water at the Pole by an icebreaker cruise ship in mid-August surprised many in the scientific community. This finding, combined with two recent studies, provides more evidence not only that Earth's ice cover is melting, but also that it is melting at an accelerating rate. A study by Norwegian scientists projects that within 50 years the Arctic Ocean could be free of ice during the summer.