Japan: Volcano erupts in southern island; no damage reported yet
What's the story
On Thursday morning, a volcano erupted on a remote island in southern Japan, but despite the eruption, no damage or injuries have been reported.
The explosion took place some 1,000km southwest of the capital, Tokyo, and authorities have made preparations for evacuations, in case the situation escalates.
For now, there's ban on entering the area of the eruption.
Here are the details.
Details
The eruption took place around 1,000km from Tokyo
According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, the Shindake volcano on Kuchinoerabu island erupted at around 9.20am local time, spewing ash and smoke into the air.
The plume of ash and smoke rose 6,000m after the eruption, but has not yet affected residential areas on the sparsely populated island.
Authorities have issued a level three warning.
Earlier
Shindake had erupted explosively in 2015, displacing the island's population
This is not the first time the Shindake volcano has erupted.
Authorities said that minor eruptions had taken place since October last year, but none had been catastrophic.
However, back in 2015, the Shindake volcano erupted explosively, and released deadly pyroclastic flows that reached the sea.
The 150 odd residents of the island then had to be evacuated.
Preparations
However, authorities are leaving nothing to chance
However, despite the 2015 catastrophe, the island's residents eventually made their way back to their homes.
Currently, around 109 people live on the island, and many among them are elderly and fragile,
Thus, as a precaution, authorities have made preparations in case emergency evacuations are required.
That said, they are of the opinion that such a situation will not arise.
Do you know?
Japan has a whopping 110 active volcanoes
Japan is no stranger to volcanic eruptions. There are 110 active volcanoes spread across Japanese territory, and authorities monitor 47 of the most dangerous ones round the clock.