Hey Thoughty2 here.
If you had the chance to live on an active volcano, floating in the ocean, in the middle
of nowhere, that erupts on a regular basis and where the air is so toxic that you are
required to wear a gas mask, would you take up this wonderful opportunity?
No?
What’s wrong with you?
The two-and-a-half-thousand happy residents of Miyake Island have nothing but good words
to say about their cosy-little home.
Look, they are practically welcoming you with open arms…
Known to the Japanese as Miyake-jima, this island volcano last erupted in June 2000 after
a 17-year lull.
The island’s resident volcano is called Mount Oyama, and she is one hell of a violent
madam.
In the year 2000, not only did she erupt with full force, sending ash plumes 10 miles high
into the air, but the eruption also caused over seventeen-and-a-half-thousand subsequent
earthquakes, which lasted for a month.
These earthquakes caused major cracks in the Earth’s crust, beneath the island.
Several craters also collapsed causing major rifts in the ground.
Ever since these huge tears in the volcano have constantly released highly toxic sulphur
dioxide into the air.
This caused a whole twenty per cent of the island to become uninhabitable immediately
afterwards.
The islanders have always had issues with sulphur dioxide being released from the volcano
and gas masks are not a new thing for the island, but this drastic event made matters
a whole lot worse.
So the Japanese government quickly took action and evacuated the entirety of the island’s
residents.
They banned them from their homes for the next five years.
For this entire time the island was declared off-limits to anyone and everyone, turning
it into a ghost town, resembling Chernobyl.
Mount Oyama continued releasing over 20,000 tons of sulphur dioxide every day.
Over a few years the poisonous gases started to calm down slightly and eventually in 2005
the evacuation order was lifted and people were finally permitted to go back to their
homes.
However, the constant release of toxic gases from the volcano hadn’t stopped and it still
hasn’t to this day.
So surely people didn’t return to their homes, knowing they would return to a level
of constant pollution that could drastically shorten their lives.
Nope, 2,800 residents chose to return to the island, the few that didn’t remained in
their Tokyo homes that were given to them when they were evacuated.
But most did return, I guess the draw of what was once your home never goes away.
But there was a catch, residents returning to the island are required to carry gas masks
with them at all times, they are not required to always wear them, although it is advised,
since the pollution levels all over the island are still highly toxic.
If the sulphur dioxide levels suddenly rise to fatal levels an alarm is sounded across
the entire island and all residents must immediately equip their masks.
On top of all this, a whole two-thirds of the island are still completely off-limits
today, due to extremely high toxicity levels.
The government conducts regular health checks on all the island’s residents to ensure
they’re tickety-boo, despite the omnipresent cloud of murderous gas.
What’s even more crazy than wanting to live in this environment is that the island now
has a thriving tourist trade.
Japanese mainlanders and occasionally foreigners, flock to the island in their thousands every
year, to take tours of abandoned houses and more.
A perennial favourite is a visit to a school that was half destroyed by lava.
Of course disposable gas masks are sold to tourists at local stores all over the island.
I guess it’s quite the adrenaline rush to explore somewhere that could kill you if you
breathed in the air for a little too long.
So now you’ve learnt of all the wonders that this killer island has to offer, have
you reconsidered?
Would you live on Miyake-Jima island?
If for some bizarre reason your answer is yes then I’ll leave you with this thought,
due to the sulphur dioxide present in the air, the entire island smells of farts, 24/7.
Thanks for watching.