The images of ash and lava spit out since Sunday evening by this volcano are impressive and show the danger.
The Japanese meteorological agency has also issued a maximum level alert after the eruption of the Sakurajima volcano, in the city of Kagoshima located in the south of the country, and dozens of inhabitants of the mountainous area have been called to evacuate. .
The agency raised its alert level for Sakurajima to level 5, the highest level.
Before the eruption of the volcano, which took place after 8 p.m. local time on Sunday, the alert was at level 3, which prohibits access to the mountain.
Authorities in the seaside town of Kagoshima ordered people living in the Arimura district and part of Furusato district, a total of 51 people, to leave, according to local media.
Kagoshima Municipality has approximately 600,000 inhabitants.
“Residential areas of Arimura and Furusato cities, located within a three-kilometer radius of Sakurajima crater, should be on high alert,” the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said in a statement.
An explosion propelled ash about 2.5 km from the crater, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency, while smoke rose to about 300 m a.s.l. and mingled with clouds.
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No damage was immediately reported, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihiko Isozaki said.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida asked the government to “work closely with the municipality to ensure damage prevention, including through evacuations,” Yoshihiko Isozaki told reporters.
A well-known tourist site
The Sakurajima volcano, which frequently spews smoke and ash, is one of Japan's best-known tourist sites.
According to Tsuyoshi Nakatsuji, the JMA last week observed the swelling of the volcano, a marker of an accumulation of magma.
“But the swelling has not gone away after the last eruption,” he said, assuring that the JMA “is monitoring this carefully”.
The country has many active volcanoes.
It is located on the "Pacific Ring of Fire", where much of the world's earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are recorded.
Sakurajima was once an island, but due to earlier eruptions, it is now attached to a peninsula.
The last time Japan issued the maximum evacuation alert for a volcano was when Kuchinoerabu Island erupted in 2015.
