© Perth NowJapan's meteorological agency has warned Kyushu residents to stay away after Mount Aso erupted.
Mount Aso in Kumamoto Prefecture erupted early Saturday, belching a column of ash 11,000 meters into the air in the latest eruption in one of the world's most volcanically active countries.The explosive eruption occurred around 1:46 a.m. on one of the peaks of the 1,592-meter mountain, the Meteorological Agency said. There were no immediate reports of injuries.
It was the first explosive eruption at that particular peak since January 1980.
The agency raised the alert level for the volcano to level 3 on a scale of 5 and urged people not to approach the mountain.
Footage on NHK public television showed orange flames billowing from several locations on the mountaintop as the volcano emitted thick gray smoke into the sky.
There are no houses within the off-limit area and no injuries or major damage have been reported in nearby towns, though buildings and cars were covered with thick ash. No flights were affected.
A window at a youth center just a few kilometers away from the mountain suffered a crack apparently from volcanic rocks.
Masaaki Yamamoto, a manager at the center, told NHK that he heard small volcanic rocks hitting the exterior of the building, and found a crack in the window along with nearby chunks of volcanic debris about the size of golf balls.
Comment: This is the worst disaster to hit Haiti since the devastating earthquake in 2010. Just over two weeks ago the former Senate President of Haiti Bernard Sansaricq told a crowd of Donald Trump supporters that the Clinton Foundation stole "billions" from the Haiti relief fund following the tragic earthquake that left some 316,000 people dead due to the cascade of weakly supported structures and an outbreak of cholera. See: Hurricane Matthew to show horrific cost of Clinton Foundation theft from Haiti