Sakurajima volcano erupts spectacularly in southern Japan

A well-known volcano erupted Friday evening in southern Japan with a fiery blast that sent lava rolling down its slope.

Rocks spewing out of the crater were expected to fall within the 2-kilometer (1.2-mile) zone.

Television footage showed red streams of lava bursting from the side of the mountain, but Ishihara said he thought the impact of the eruption would not be that serious. Officials have upgraded the volcanic alert from level two to three, so the mountain is completely off-limits.

The elevated level, however, stopped short of urging local residents to prepare for possible evacuation, according to the agency.

There have been no reports of anyone having been hurt by Sakurajima’s eruption so far.

The volcano’s latest eruption was recorded in May 21, 2015. Japan’s Meteorological Agency said Sakurajima on the island of Kyushu erupted at around 7 p.m. (1000 GMT).

It lies about 12 kilometres across the bay from the main part of the city of Kagoshima, with a population of more than 600,000 people.

In August, Japan had warned that the volcano, which is located 50 km from a nuclear reactor, was showing signs of increased activity.

A volcano expert told NHK that the eruption happened away from residential areas, and did not expect it to have a significant impact.