Mount Fuji is located 70 miles from Tokyo in a very heavily populated area in which the government estimates an eruption might cause more than $21 billion dollars in damage.

That makes Fuji one of the most closely watched volcanoes on Earth, with numerous global positioning system arrays and other equipment constantly monitoring its activity.

And that equipment has indicated deep low-frequency earthquakes continue to occur, believed by some experts to be caused by magma flowing into the roots of the volcanic system.

"A volcano can absorb quite a few (buildups) without erupting," Chris Newhall of the U.S. Geological Survey told NGN. "It's a bit like torquing a ratcheted spring: A little bit now, a little bit later, and eventually it's cocked."

But precisely when Fuji will be fully cocked, nobody knows.

he tsunami, triggered by a magnitude 7.7 earthquake, smashed into a 110-mile stretch of the coast without warning, sending boats, cars and motorbikes crashing into resorts and fishing villages.

Desperate villagers and soldiers are now digging through destroyed homes and hotels looking for survivors.

Regional agencies had warned that that earthquake that struck 150 miles off Indonesia's southern coast was strong enough to have created a tsunami on Java but there was no warning system for those on the southern coast.

Indonesia has installed a warning system across much of Sumatra island but not on Java.

Java was hit seven weeks ago by a 6.3-magnitude earthquake that killed more than 5,800 people, but was spared the 2004 tsunami that killed 216,000 people, nearly half of them in Indonesia's Aceh province.

The death toll increased after 10 more people died in the southern province of Guangxi, where the storm was sited Tuesday after it brought heavy rain and flooding to southern, eastern and central provinces since Friday.

Forecasters had expected the storm to weaken as it hit mainland China but instead it brought more death and destruction, as well as paralyzing transport and communications infrastructure in six southern and central provinces.

More than 20 million people in China have been affected with about 2.2 million people evacuated from dangerous locations and economic losses reaching 11.8 billion yuan (1.5 billion dollars), the ministry said.

A total of 910,000 hectares (2.2 million acres) of crops had been flooded, with 160,000 hectares completely destroyed, it said.

Some 113,000 homes collapsed while 175,000 were damaged, it said.

The Office of State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters has earmarked 65 million yuan of emergency relief aid for badly hit areas, the China Daily said Tuesday.

Local governments delivered quilts, instant noodles and tents to displaced victims as the storm weakened and moved west but continued to dump heavy rain across vast swathes of southern and central China.

The worst affected province is central China's Hunan, where at least 92 people have died and more than 100 are still missing, Xinhua said.

Major operations were carried out to help thousands of people stranded.

In one of the more extraordinary operations, 1,663 inmates and 220 guards at a jail in the southern province of Guangdong were rescued after being trapped by floodwaters for 30 hours, the Southern Metropolitan Daily said Tuesday.

Helicopters had initially dropped food and supplies to Pingshi Prison in Shaoguan city, with 200 paramilitary and police then dispatched to the site to escort the prisoners out of the flooded compound.

Altogether 2.1 tons of food, drinkable water and medicine were air-dropped in Shaoguan to the prison as well as a railway tunnel construction site where 1,200 workers were building a railway line near a mountain, said Xinhua.

The two helicopters used for the mission also flew 21 people from the flood-stricken area to safety -- 16 children, four pregnant women and one injured woman.

Urban areas in Shaoguan, which is one of the worst hit areas in the storm, were completely flooded with widespread power and water supply failures, Xinhua said.

Also in Guangdong, more than 8,800 passengers stranded for 40 hours on five trains stuck in flooded sections of the Beijing-Guangdong railway were rescued Monday, said Xinhua.

The water level had risen to over a meter (3.3 feet) above the tracks and more than 10,000 workers were dispatched to repair the tracks.

The tracks reopened Tuesday, the China Central Television station said.

Local meteorologists have forecast more rain for Guangdong and Hunan provinces in the next two days, reports said.

"It is possible that the all-time record could be broken," the Met Office said.

It ascribed the current heatwave to warm air flowing across from Continental Europe but added in a statement that its research showed "significant human contribution" in the hot spells of recent years because of carbon dioxide emissions.

"This is a sign of things to come, with the current temperatures becoming a normal event by the middle of this century," it added.

The government issued a heatwave alert under a new system introduced after a 2003 heatwave which killed more than 2,000 people in Britain and 27,000 across Europe.

The Department of Health urged people to keep an eye on the elderly, young children and those with chronic disease.

"These temperatures are high enough to give rise to significant health risks," it said.

People should drink plenty of water, stay out of the sun between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. and wear loose-fitting clothes.

A smog warning was issued for most of England, with higher ozone levels causing breathing problems for some.

"Some people are more sensitive to ozone than others and may begin to notice an effect on their breathing," the Environment Department said. "Avoiding exercise outdoors in the afternoon can reduce exposure."

Bookmakers have slashed the odds on thermometers reaching 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37.7 C).

"We could easily be left red faced on Wednesday," said William Hill spokesman Rupert Adams.

British workers should be allowed to leave their ties and jackets at home and go to work wearing shorts in a bid to stay cool, said the Trades Union Congress, which represents 70 unions with nearly seven million members.

By Thursday, the Met Office expects temperatures to start to fall as thundery showers spread from the southwest.

Scores of communities Monday reported temperatures of more than 100 degrees: Redding, Calif., about 160 miles north of Sacramento, reached 110 degrees; Grand Junction in western Colorado hit 101; Russell, Kan., hit 108; The National Weather Service had a report of 120 degrees just outside Usta in northwest South Dakota.

The Northeast could get a break starting Tuesday night, with scattered showers and thunderstorms expected for parts of the region, but the heat was likely to persist in the southern Plains until Friday, according to the National Weather Service.

A 60-year-old woman was found dead of lung disease and heat stress in her Philadelphia home. In Arkansas, authorities blamed the heat for at least one death but did not release any details. On Saturday, a 3-year-old boy died in South Bend, Ind., after apparently locking himself inside a car in 90-degree heat.

The heat may have caused a New York subway train to lose power, stranding commuters for about 2 1/2 hours. About 70 people had to be evacuated. A transit spokesman said the power loss may have been caused when the "third rail" - which powers the train - buckled.

A train derailment in rural Oklahoma's Lincoln County on Monday afternoon might have been attributable to the heat, Highway Patrol Captain Stewart Meyer said. There were no injuries.

One of LaGuardia International Airport's four terminals and part of a second lost power in New York when high demand caused by the heat triggered equipment problems.

In Illinois, state officials made more than 130 office buildings available as cooling centers. Detroit cranked up the air conditioning in 11 of its libraries and invited the public to take refuge from the heat. In Kentucky, Louisville officials offered free fans or air conditioners to those in immediate need.

The heat pushed power consumption to a record in some states, and calls also went out for electricity conservation. California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger ordered state offices to adjust thermostats and turn off nonessential lights for the rest of the week.

PJM Interconnection, which operates the electric grid for all or part of 13 states and the District of Columbia, asked people to reduce usage, especially between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m.

In Chicago, the stifling weather prompted organizers of the Gay Games to deliver extra water and sports drinks to athletes. Spokesman Kevin Boyer said organizers asked competitors to bring extra ice and fluids to various events.

For some, the heat was a bonanza. Rick Boaz, owner of Oklahoma City AC Rescue, said his air conditioning installation and repair business is busier than ever.

"We're getting more business than we can handle - it's just the heat," Boaz said. "I'd hate for the heat to affect my business but the reality of it is, extreme temperatures drive my business."

At the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden, gorillas got frozen fruit treats, bears played with ice-covered fish, elephants were hosed down, and large fans, water sprinklers and kiddie pools helped other animals stay cool.

Health officials warned people to take precautions, such as never leaving children or pets in closed vehicles, wearing lightweight, loose clothing and drinking plenty of fluids.

Signs of heat exhaustion include complaints of weakness and of feeling faint, plus dizziness, nausea, headache and confusion. Sufferers should be moved to a cooler place and cooled down with fluid and wet cloths. Construction worker Chuck Trautman, 54, of Pittsburgh, spends his days outdoors working with a blow torch and wearing heavy protective gear.

"When you're burning with that torch, it makes it twice as hot," he said. "But you've just got to deal with it."

Parts of the country could even reach 40 degrees - with night-time temperatures everywhere in the low 20s - before the arrival of storms on Thursday and Friday, forecasters said.

The conditions have awoken comparisons with 2003, when 15,000 mainly elderly people died of heat-stroke and dehydration, and the
government was accused of failing to react quickly enough.