A local volcano on the Japanese island of Kuchinoerabujima suddenly erupted Friday morning, forcing the evacuation of residents and the diversion of several flights.
According to reports, Mount Shindake started blasting plumes of black smoke followed by a pyroclastic flow of rock and heated gas.
"There was a huge bang and black smoke rose up immediately," Nobuaki Hayashi, an official from the Island, said.
No news of deaths or injuries, among the 137 resident of the island, has been reported as of the moment.
The Japan Meteorological Agency raised the volcano alert level on Kuchinoerabujima to five, which is the highest possible alert on the agency's scale.
Mount Shindake last erupted in August of last year. It is the first time the volcano showed significant activity since 1980.
The national government of Japan has organized a disaster management office to assist with relief efforts. A ferry has also been scheduled to evacuate the residents of the island to safety.
Kuchinoerabujima is located about 100 miles from Kyushu, Japan's southernmost island. It can only be access through boat travel.
Kuchinoerabu-jima volcano on southern Japanese island has erupted. Pic via @denki_minto pic.twitter.com/EDjSKLiRtG
— Jon Passantino (@passantino) May 29, 2015
GIF of the volcano eruption in Japan via @nippon_en pic.twitter.com/S6v91ikLu3 — Brandon Wall (@Walldo) May 29, 2015
Amazing photo of the ash cloud from Japan's Mount Shindake volcano eruption https://t.co/PWJ3UjeKHa pic.twitter.com/OtIR8au2kS
— Jon Passantino (@passantino) May 29, 2015
The volcanic eruption has raised concern about the safety of air travel near the island.
All Nippon Airways announced its plans to divert some flights to Southeast Asia and Okinawa as a precaution, but it did not mention any possible flight cancellations.
Japan Airlines (JAL), on the other hand, said that it will not change any of its flight routes.
Experts now fear the eruptions might affect the restart of the Sendai nuclear plant managed by Kyushu Electric Power. Workers on the plant had just finished the last phase of nuclear regulator's stringent safety measures implemented after the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi disaster.
Officials from Kyushu Electric Power, however, said the explosion of Mount Shindake does not pose any threat to the Sendai nuclear plant, which is on Kyushu Island.
Japan is considered one of the most seismically active countries in the world. Scientists in the country have observed a considerable increase in volcanic activity over the past few weeks.
Locals report of increasing volumes of steam coming from the ground at a resort just outside of the capital Tokyo, while another volcano in central Japan has shown an increase in activity as well.
Photo: Ierdnall | Flickr
