Sakurajima Volcano

Dozens of people were urged to evacuate their homes after a fiery volcanic eruption in southern Japan on Sunday as the national weather agency issued its top-level alert for the mountain.

A Japanese volcano about 50 km (30 miles) from a nuclear plant erupted today, shooting ash nearly 2 km into the night sky along with fountains of lava, but there were no immediate report of damage and operations at the power station were not affected.

Japan's weather agency today told thousands of residents near a southern city to prepare for a possible evacuation as it upgraded a volcanic eruption warning.

A volcano in southern Japan erupted in spectacular fashion on Sunday, spewing an ash plume up to 5,000 metres into the air, meteorological officials said, according to a report.

Dozens of people were urged to evacuate their homes after a fiery volcanic eruption in southern Japan on Sunday as the national weather agency issued its top-level alert for the mountain.

A Japanese volcano about 50 km (30 miles) from a nuclear plant erupted today, shooting ash nearly 2 km into the night sky along with fountains of lava, but there were no immediate report of damage and operations at the power station were not affected.

Japan's weather agency today told thousands of residents near a southern city to prepare for a possible evacuation as it upgraded a volcanic eruption warning.

A volcano in southern Japan erupted in spectacular fashion on Sunday, spewing an ash plume up to 5,000 metres into the air, meteorological officials said, according to a report.