Volcanic Eruption, Alert Zone Expanded
The Japan Meteorological Agency has expanded the area where residents are on alert to beware of flying rocks and pyroclastic flows at Sakurajima in Kagoshima Prefecture, southwestern Japan.
The volcano erupted around 1:09 a.m. on Sunday. It spewed ash and smoke up to about 2,300 meters into the sky and pyroclastic flows reached the area about 1.8 kilometers southwest of the crater.
The agency extended the alert zone from 2 kilometers to about 2.4 kilometers from the crater but kept the alert level at 3 on its five-tier scale.
Residential areas are scattered at about 2.5 kilometers from the crater and about 90 people live around the 3 kilometer radius from it.
Police and fire authorities say no damage has been reported as of 5:00 a.m. on Sunday.
Agency officials say it is the first pyroclastic flow from the volcano in almost three years and it reached the furthest from the crater in 10 years.