The Tenmei eruption (Japanese: 天明大噴火, Tenmei daifunka) was a large eruption of Mount Asama that occurred in 1783 (Tenmei 3).[3][4][5] This eruption was one of the causes of the Tenmei famine.[6][7] It is estimated that about 1,500–1,624 people were killed in the eruption.[8][9] The event is known in Japanese as The Burning of Asama in Tenmei (天明の浅間焼け, Tenmei no Asamayake).[10][11][12]

Tenmei eruption
天明大噴火
VolcanoMount Asama
Start dateMay 9, 1783 (1783-05-09)[1]
End dateAugust 5, 1783 (1783-08-05)[1]
TypePlinian eruption
VEI4[1][2]
Deaths1,500–1,624 dead
Map of lava and mud flows, and ash depths:
  •   Onioshidashi Lava Flow
  •   Azuma pyroclastic flow
  •   Kanbara Pyroclastic Flow/Debris Avalanche
  •   Tenmei mudflow (sedimentation)
  •   Tenmei mudflow (muddy water)

Background

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Japan is situated along a zone of convergence between at least four major and minor tectonic plates. The Philippine Sea Plate dives beneath the Amurian Plate and Okinawa Plate along the Nankai Trough and Ryukyu Trench in southern Japan. In northern Japan, the Pacific Plate subducts beneath the Okhotsk Plate, part of the larger North American Plate, along the Japan and Kuril trenches. The subduction process is related to the production of volcanoes in Japan as the downgoing oceanic slab undergoes dehydration at depths of roughly 90 to 100 km beneath the overriding plate.[13] Water in the structure of hydrated minerals interact with the upper mantle, lowering its melting point. As the mantle begins to melt, its density decreases and rises through the upper crust, forming a volcanic vent.

1783 eruption of Mount Asama

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Bijzonderheden over Japan (1824). Illustration of the eruption of Mt. Asama.

Mount Asama erupted in 1783, causing widespread damage.[14][15][16] The three-month-long Plinian eruption that began on 9 May 1783, produced andesitic pumice falls, pyroclastic flows, lava flows, and enlarged the cone. The climactic eruption began on 4 August and lasted for 15 hours,[17] and contained pumice falls and pyroclastic flows. The complex features of this eruption are explained by rapid deposits of coarse pyroclastic ash near the vent and the subsequent flows of lava; and these events which were accompanied by a high eruption plume which generated further injections of pumice into the air.[18]

Dutch diplomat Isaac Titsingh's account of the Asama-Yama eruption was posthumously published in French in Paris in 1820;[19] and an English translation was published in London in 1822.[20] These books were based on Japanese sources, and the work represented the first of its kind to be disseminated in Europe and the West.[21]

The volcano's devastation exacerbated what was already known as the "Tenmei famine".[22] Much of the agriculturally productive land in Shinano and Kōzuke provinces would remain fallow or under-producing for the next four or five years.[23] The effects of this eruption were made worse because, after years of near or actual famine, neither the authorities nor the people had any remaining reserves.[24] The 4 August eruption killed up to 1,400 people,[25] with an additional 20,000 more deaths caused by the famine.[26]

Due to the Tenmei eruption, a lava flow called "Onioshidashi" flowed along the northern slope of Mt. Asama.[27] Now, it is known as a tourist destination.[28]

Kanbara tragedy

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Kanbara site [ja]

The most seriously damaged area by Tenmei eruption was the Kanbara [ja] (now Tsumagoi, Gunma Prefecture). Kanbara was destroyed by avalanche by eruption, 477 people were killed.[29][30] Because of it, Kanbara is also called "Japan's Pompeii".[31]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Asamayama". Global Volcanism Program. Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 2021-05-14.
  2. ^ "浅間山 有史以降の火山活動". www.data.jma.go.jp. 気象庁. Retrieved 2021-04-26.
  3. ^ 天明3年浅間山噴火の経過と災害
  4. ^ "歴史的大規模土砂災害地点を歩く - いさぼうネット". isabou.net. Retrieved 2021-04-26.
  5. ^ 1783年浅間山天明大噴火
  6. ^ "浅間山が噴火 1783年に火砕流で約1500人死亡、天明の大飢饉も起こした強暴火山(巽好幸) - Yahoo!ニュース". Yahoo!ニュース 個人 (in Japanese). Retrieved 2021-05-09.
  7. ^ 天明3年浅間山噴火
  8. ^ "報告書(1783 天明浅間山噴火)". www.bousai.go.jp. 内閣府. Retrieved 2022-04-16.
  9. ^ "天明浅間山噴火とは". コトバンク (in Japanese). Retrieved 2021-05-09.
  10. ^ "Asamayamayake". National Archives of Japan Digital Archive (in Japanese). National Archives of Japan. Retrieved 2022-04-16.
  11. ^ 世界大百科事典内言及. "天明の浅間焼けとは". コトバンク (in Japanese). Retrieved 2022-04-16.
  12. ^ "天下大変-地震と噴火". www.archives.go.jp. National Archives of Japan. Retrieved 2022-04-16.
  13. ^ Tatsumi, Y.; Suenaga, N.; Yoshioka, S. (14 September 2020). "Contrasting volcano spacing along SW Japan arc caused by difference in age of subducting lithosphere". Scientific Reports. 10 (15005): 15005. doi:10.1038/s41598-020-72173-6. PMC 7490715. PMID 32929150.
  14. ^ Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Annales des empereurs du japon, p. 420.
  15. ^ "災害史に学ぶ(火山編)" (PDF). Retrieved 2022-02-27.
  16. ^ "浅間山・天明大噴火(天明3年7月7日) | 災害カレンダー". Yahoo!天気・災害 (in Japanese). Retrieved 2021-05-09.
  17. ^ Richards, John F. (2003). The Unending Frontier: An Environmental History of the Early Modern World. University of California Press. p. 177. ISBN 9780520939356. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
  18. ^ Yasui, Maya and Takehiro Koyaguchi. "Sequence and eruptive style of the 1783 eruption of Asama Volcano, central Japan: a case study of an andesitic explosive eruption generating fountain-fed lava flow, pumice fall, scoria flow and forming a cone," Journal Bulletin of Volcanology (Kasan). Vol. 66, No. 3 (March 2004). pp. 243–262.
  19. ^ Titsingh, Isaac. (1820). Mémoires et Anecdotes sur la Dynastie régnante des Djogouns, Souverains du Japon.
  20. ^ Titisngh, Isaac. (1822). Illustrations of Japan: consisting of private memoirs and anecdotes of the reigning dynasty of the Djogouns, or sovereigns of Japan.
  21. ^ Screech, T. (2006), Secret Memoirs of the Shoguns: Isaac Titsingh and Japan, 1779–1822, pp. 146–148.
  22. ^ "天明3年(1783年)浅間山噴火 | 利根川水系砂防事務所 | 国土交通省 関東地方整備局". www.ktr.mlit.go.jp. Retrieved 2021-05-09.
  23. ^ Hall, John. (1955). Tanuma Okitsugu, 1719–1788: Forerunner of Modern Japan, p. 122.
  24. ^ Hall, p. 170.
  25. ^ Stoltman, Joseph P.; Lidstone, John; Dechano, Lisa M. (11 March 2007). International Perspectives on Natural Disasters: Occurrence, Mitigation, and Consequences: Occurrence, Mitigation, and Consequences. Springer. pp. 172–73. ISBN 9781402028519. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
  26. ^ Bowman, John Stewart (2000). Columbia Chronologies of Asian History and Culture. Columbia University Press. p. 185. ISBN 9780231110044. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
  27. ^ 日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ),百科事典マイペディア,世界大百科事典内言及. "鬼押出しとは". コトバンク (in Japanese). Retrieved 2022-02-27.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  28. ^ 小項目事典, ブリタニカ国際大百科事典. "鬼押出岩とは". コトバンク (in Japanese). Retrieved 2022-02-27.
  29. ^ "浅間山天明3年噴火の発掘調査展:朝日新聞デジタル". 朝日新聞デジタル (in Japanese). 24 July 2021. Retrieved 2022-02-27.
  30. ^ "1783年に477人死亡した「日本のポンペイ」…浅間山噴火、集落発掘へ : 社会 : ニュース". 読売新聞オンライン (in Japanese). 2021-11-04. Retrieved 2022-02-27.
  31. ^ 百科事典マイペディア. "鎌原村とは". コトバンク (in Japanese). Retrieved 2022-02-27.
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