On the morning of April 5, Shimmoe volcano in the southwestern Japanese island of Kyushu began to erupt violently with columns of ash as high as 5,000 meters.

Japan: Shimmoe volcano erupts, column of ashes 5,000m high images 1
Shimmoe volcano sprayed columns of ash into the air.(Source: Kyodo / TTXVN).

According to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), Mount Shimmoe started erupting at dawn and this was the most intense eruption since March 25th.

Earlier, March 6, the 1,421-meter volcano, located in the Kirishima Mountains, stretching from Kagoshima Prefecture to Miyazaki Prefecture, suddenly erupted for the first time in 7 years.

A week later, the JMA warned that the volcano would continue to operate in the next few months. The agency maintains an alarm on volcanic activity at level 3 on a scale of 5 levels with increasing levels.

With alarm level 3, people are advised to limit access to volcanoes, warning large rocks that can be far away in a 3km radius and lava flows that can flow within 2km from the crater.