The Coordinating Committee for Prediction of Volcanic Eruptions will put seven Japanese volcanoes under round-the-clock surveillance because they are likely to become active or erupt in the next 100 years, sources said Saturday.
The seven volcanoes include Mount Shirane, which is situated between Gunma and Tochigi prefectures, and Mount Norikura, which is between Nagano and Gifu, the sources said.
The committee monitors 108 volcanoes across Japan and has already put 34 of them, including Mount Asama, a volcano on the Gunma-Nagano border that had a minor eruption earlier this month, under 24-hour watch using seismographs and a global positioning system devices.
The addition of the seven volcanoes will be approved at a regular meeting of the committee on Wednesday, the sources said.
The committee was set up in 1974 under the auspices of the Japan Meteorological Agency.