Overview

• The three-minute, AI-generated clip was published by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s Disaster Prevention Division on Sunday.
• The simulation depicts ash plunging the capital into darkness in under two hours with significant effects on health, mobility and daily routines.
• Authorities say the material is a preparedness exercise rather than a warning of imminent activity and have launched a new information portal with guidance on ashfall.
• Reporting citing CNN Japan estimates more than 1,700 million cubic meters of ash could be ejected, with about 500 million cubic meters settling on infrastructure and potential losses near 2.5 trillion yen (about $16.6 billion).
• Experts note even a smaller eruption could halt trains and snarl roads, and the broader risk context includes Japan’s seismic hazards such as an 80% probability of a magnitude 8.0 or greater Nankai trough earthquake within 30 years.