In one of the volcano’s biggest explosions in years, Mount Aso in Japan’s southern island of Kyushu spewed massive clouds of gray smoke as high as 11 kilometers into the air on Saturday.
The eruption in early Saturday also propelled specks of volcanic rock and ash, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. This prompted the raising of the alert level in the area to 3 on a scale of 5. The agency told people not to approach the area and also warned of falling ash in 10 prefectures.
According to the meteorological agency, it was the first explosive eruption at the summit since January 1980.
TV footage showed orange flames shimmering from numerous locations on the mountaintop while thick gray smoke ejected into the sky.
There were no injuries or major damage reported in neighboring towns and, except for some delays, flights were largely unaffected.
In the city of Aso, volcanic ash covered cars, houses and roads. More ash was dropping as far as 320 kilometers (200 miles) away, Japanese media said.
An Aso city hall official said that falling rocks cracked a window at an Aso youth center locted 5 kilometers away from the crater. Authorities report no injuries.
No damage to nuclear plant
The eruption had no effect on the Sendai nuclear plant, which is about 160 kilometers south of Mount Aso. Along with another plant, Sendai comprises one of the two reactors that operate in Japan, Kyushu Electric Power Co said.
A spokesman of the power company said that up to 29,000 homes lost power soon following the eruption. They resolved the problem in less than two hours.
Mount Aso is also a popular hiking spot aside from being one of the most active peaks in Japan.
Japan sits atop the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, a range of fault lines and volcanoes surrounding the rims of the Pacific Ocean, and has more than 100 volcanoes.
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