The minor eruption around 5:35 p.m. prompted the Japan Meteorological Agency to raise the alert level for the volcano in Kagoshima Prefecture to 2 from 1 on a scale of 5, warning of the likelihood of flying rocks and pyroclastic flows within around a 1-kilometer radius of the crater.
A plume of ash that spewed from the crater reached over 1,000 meters into the sky. It was the first eruption on the island since June 2013, according to the agency, which said small eruptions could continue there for the time being.
The agency issued the level-2 alert for the volcano in March 2018 but lowered it to 1 the following month.
