Researchers say Japan's highest peak, the 3,776-metre volcano Mount Fuji, may violently erupt if its inside is cracked at the time of a major earthquake.

The researchers include those from the state-run National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST).

Mount Fuji, an inactive volcano, last erupted in 1707 in what is known as the Hoei eruption, which dumped a large amount of volcanic ash onto the Kanto region.

The researchers have warned another violent eruption of Mount Fuji is possible, noting that underground magma has accumulated inside the volcano over the past 300 years.

A massive earthquake could cause cracks inside the volcano which might lead to a violent eruption, they said.

The team looked into a number of craters on the mountain through aerial photos and field investigations to analyse past eruptions between 10,000 years ago and the 1707 eruption.

The study showed that a large number of dikes created before the 1707 eruption have prevented magma from rising.

But in the case of the Hoei eruption, two magnitude-8 earthquakes hit Mount Fuji in 1703 and 1707, causing magma under the surface to rise.

The researchers said they expect magma to have accumulated under the ground as a series of low-frequency earthquakes have been detected underneath Mount Fuji.

Volcanologist Akira Takada, a senior AIST researcher, said Mount Fuji may erupt in the event of a major earthquake such as one which might occur in the Nankai Trough, stretching south of two of Japan's four main islands - Honshu and Shikoku.

Last month, Mount Fuji was inscribed into UNESCO's list of World Heritage cultural sites.