Mount Aso, a volcano located on the island of Kyushu in southern Japan, erupted on Wednesday, the Japan Meteorological Agency said, spewing volcanic ash 3,500 meters high. The eruption occurred around 11:43 am (local time).
The meteorological agency raised the alert level of the volcano to level 3 on a scale of 5, telling people not to go near the mountain, it also warned of large volcanic blocks and pyroclastic flows that extend within a range of about 1 km from the Nakadake crater of the mountain.
Hace pocos minutos se registró fuerte explosión en el Mt. #Aso, Japón🇯🇵
Se observan oleadas piroclásticas por el colapso de la columna eruptiva. Hasta ahora no hay reporte de personas lesionadas.
pic.twitter.com/uGxXNHYaCE— SkyAlert (@SkyAlertMx) October 20, 2021
So far, there have been no reported casualties.
Television networks broadcast images of a dark cloud of ash looming over the volcano that swiftly obscured large swathes of the mountain.
Ash falls from the 1,592m tall mountain — which is among the largest volcanoes in the world — are expected to shower nearby towns until late afternoon, the weather agency added.