Japan volcano erupts for 2nd straight day

The Sakurajima volcano in Japan's Kagoshima prefecture erupted for a second straight day on Monday, after evacuation orders were issued the previous day, the weather agency said.

Following the latest eruption, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) raised its eruption alert for the volcano two notches to the highest level of 5 on its warning system, reports Xinhua news agency.

An evacuation order was initially issued to residents of the towns of Arimura and Furusato, both in the vicinity of the volcano, with the JMA saying that large volcanic rocks could fall in parts of Kagoshima city within 3 km of two craters.

The weather agency also said people should be on the alert for pyroclastic flows within a radius of about 2 km of the volcano.

"Volcanic activities of Sakurajima are becoming intense. People in residential areas should be on the highest alert for large volcanic rocks falling nearby," a JMA official told reporters here.

There were no reports of injury or damage from Sunday's eruption that occurred at around 8.05 p.m., although the agency reiterated its evacuation warning.

The government is continuing to assess the situation and a task force has been set up at the Prime Minister's Office to monitor the situation.

Sakurajima is one of Japan's most active volcanoes.

It previously erupted in January, spewing a plume of volcanic ash kilometres into the air.

The lava flows of an eruption in 1914, deemed to be the most powerful in 20th-century Japan, connected it with the Osumi Peninsula.