TOKYO -- The latest in a series of minor earthquakes grumbled below majestic Mount Fuji on Thursday and meteorological experts closely monitored the seismic activity around Japan's highest peak.
The quake, registering 1 on the Japanese intensity scale of 7, was recorded early Thursday at the 12,388-foot summit of Mount Fuji, a dormant volcano 75 miles southwest of Tokyo, a spokesman for Japan's Meteorological Agency said.
The spokesman said there was no imminent danger of an eruption but that officials monitored the area closely. No significant seismic activity has been reported at Mt. Fuji since 1939, and the last eruption was in 1707.
Three minor quakes, the largest registering 3 on the Japanese scale - 1.8 on the Richter scale -- were felt last week at the peak during the morning hours. According to the Japanese intensity scale, a quake registering 3 can produce slight shaking of buildings. Agency officials said the quakes' epicenter was just below Mount Fuji, and very near the Earth's surface.
Yoshiaki Ida, a geophysicist at Tokyo University, said the seismic activity appeared to be a series of normal earthquakes and not volcanic tremors. Japan lies in one of the world's most active earthquake zones.
'What meaning this has we don't know yet, but there is absolutely no indication of volcanic activity at this time,' Ida said. 'An eruption could occur due to some volcanic activity but we don't have any indication of it now.'
Still, the meteorological agency has installed seismic monitoring equipment at the weather observatory at the summit for the first time since the outpost opened in 1932.
Kiyomi Mogi, a Tokyo University seismologist, said that although very small quakes often occur under Mount Fuji without being felt, the recent ones are unusual because the rumbling was noticed at the summit observatory.
The prefectures (states) of Yamanashi and Shizuoka, where Mount Fuji is located in the center of the main Japanese island of Honshu, have issued warnings to climbers. July and August are the most popular months to climb Japan's highest and most famous peak.
According to legend, an earthquake created Fuji in 286 B.C. The sacred mountain is a traditional goal of pilgrims and Japanese poets and painters often have been inspired by the snow-capped cone, ringed by lakes and virgin forests.
Japanese seismologists have predicted an earthquake in the not-too-distant future in the sea of Shizuoka prefecture registering 8 or more on the Richter Scale.
