Society

Expert: Changbai volcano will not erupt in near future

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-07-09 22:22

CHANGCHUN - The Tianchi volcano located in Changbai mountain along China's border with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) will not erupt in the next dozens years, a Chinese seismology expert said Friday.

The comprehensive monitor data showed the volcano was in a stable condition without any abnormity, said Yang Qingfu, director of earthquake and volcano analysis and forecast center with the seismology bureau of northeast China's Jilin Province.

Related readings:  From waterfalls to ancient capitals - Jilin parades its top beauty spots  Volcano spews ash and rocks in Ecuador  Icelandic volcano a lurking threat  What lesson could be drawn from volcano ash crisis?

Yang made the statement to Xinhua after a geology professor at Pusan National University of the Republic of Korea (ROK) declared that the volcano might erupt between 2014 and 2015, as quoted by Yonhap News Agency of ROK.

The professor, Yun Sung-whyo, had made this assumption during a seminar on June 18, saying the eruption may occur "within several years," judging from the data provided in the scientific papers of various Chinese experts.

Yang admitted that the volcano was active from 2002 to 2005 as shown by the monitored data, but it had become stable in 2005 and the parameters of its status had been down close to the level in 2002.

Tianchi volcano is regarded as the most dangerous volcano on the Chinese mainland with eruption potential, and the 2-billion-cubic-meter water on the top of the volcano has further increased its destructive potential in case of possible eruption.

The last time the volcano erupted was in 1903. Later, the Changbai mountain became a famous mountain resort in China, known for its beautiful natural scenery. It attracted more than one million tourists in 2009. ("The volcano is not active enough for eruption in the near future and tourists can feel free to visit the place ," said Chen Fengxu, deputy chief of the seismology bureau in Jilin.

China has started the research and monitoring of Tianchi volcano since 1985 and experts of the Jilin Seismology Bureau said a comprehensive volcano monitor system combining gravity, deformation, electromagnet and fluid monitor and seismology forecast would be established to further strengthen the monitoring.