TOKYO – What Philippine volcanologists lack in terms monitoring active volcanoes, their Japanese counterparts based here would complement by constantly watching their back.

Experts from the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said they, too, are monitoring at least six active volcanoes in the Philippines in a 24-hour basis as part of their function to ensure safety for the aviation sector.

Satoshi Harada, of the JMA-Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC), said that active Philippine volcanoes are just among the 400 volcanoes they are tasked to watch over as part of their anti-aircraft disaster measure.

“We are in constant communication with our counterparts in your country. Whatever information your Phivolcs (Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology) provide us is very essential on what we are tasked to do,” Satoshi told the Manila Bulletin in an interview.

Among the volcanoes on the JMA monitoring map are the Mayon and Bulusan in Bicol region, Pinatubo in Central Luzon, Taal in Batangas, and Kanlaon in Negros Island.

It was recalled that during the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo, the volcanic ashes it ejected reportedly reached as far as Malaysia, Vietnam and Cambodia.

“We are monitoring active volcanoes in the Philippines 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Any information on volcanic activities in your country is important to us, to our job of preventing airplane-related disasters caused by volcanic ashes,” said Satoshi.

What they specifically do, Satoshi said, is to monitor the volume of ashes that puff out of the volcanoes, particularly those under major eruption, and the general directions where the wind would take them.

The information that they would obtain would then be used to warn not only Japanese airline companies but also foreign airline companies, civil aviation authorities, and related organizations.

“This is just one way of preventing aircraft accidents because volcanic ashes are harmful to aircraft engines, and could even cause the airplane to crash,” said Satoshi.

The official cited some cases wherein volcanic ashes caused engines of airplanes to stop.

This is the reason, Satoshi said, they are monitoring not only the 110 active volcanoes inside Japan but also the 300 more active volcanoes in nearby countries like the Philippines.

But unlike the 110 active volcanoes in Japan where video monitors are installed, Satoshi said they rely much on the information being relayed by their foreign counterparts on the volcanic activities in their respective countries, as they are the ones on the field.

In case of a major eruption of volcanoes in nearby countries, he said they could send Japanese experts to assist and personally monitor the volcanic activities, what with the lack of modern monitoring equipment in some developing countries.

But Satoshi said their assistance to developing countries is not only limited in modern monitoring gadgets per se but also through training programs that would expose volcanologists in nearby countries like the Philippines on the use of modern equipment and extensive experience of Japanese experts on volcano monitoring.

The VAAC based in Tokyo is among the nine monitoring centers across the world. It is responsible for the East Asia and Northwest Pacific regions.

The Tokyo VAAC is housed inside the room where earthquakes and tsunamis are also being monitored.

The room, which Satoshi said became the busiest during last year’s magnitude nine quake and the subsequent occurrence of tsunami, is equipped with large television and computer monitors where graphs and live feeds of information from various earthquake and tsunami monitoring equipment can be read.