Japan volcano eruption LIVE updates: Shinmoedake volcano erupts again - latest maps
A JAPANESE volcano that featured in a 1960s James Bond movie has erupted explosively for the first time since April. Here are the latest live updates and maps as the Shinmoedake volcano erupts again
A Japanese volcano which which featured in the 1967 spy film, You Only Live Twice, shot smoke thousands of meters into the air on Friday, less than a week after a strong earthquake shook the country's west.
Shinmoedake, in a mainly rural area about 985 km (616 miles) from Tokyo on the southernmost main island of Kyushu, had quitened down since the earlier eruption, although admission to the 1,421 metre (4,662 ft) high peak remained restricted.
Television images showed smoke and ash billowing into the air above the peak.
TBS television said rock was thrown as far as 1,100 meters (3,609 ft) from the mountain.
Japan has 110 active volcanoes and monitors 47 constantly.
When 63 people were killed in the volcanic eruption of Mount Ontake in September 2014, it was the country's worst such toll for nearly 90 years.
In January, a member of Japan's military was struck and killed when rocks from a volcanic eruption rained down on skiers at a central mountain resort.
On Monday, an earthquake of 6.1 magnitude struck Osaka, Japan's second largest city, killing five, including a nine-year-old schoolgirl, and injuring hundreds.
(Additional reporting by Elaine Lies)
8.30am update: Beware of flying rocks
Local authorities in Japan have said the eruption has not affected flights to and from Miyazaki and Kagoshima airports.
The weather agency has maintained a level 3 alert on a scale of 5 that restricts access to the volcano.
People are being warned about of flying rocks in areas within 3 kilometers of the crater and pyroclastic flows within a 2 km radius.
The mountain has remained active since the eruption on March 6, which was the first explosive eruption in seven years, according to Kyodonews.
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8.25am update: The Ring of Fire strikes again
Shinmoedake’s eruption today marks the fourth time the volcano has erupted in 2018.
The volcano is thought to have been formed around 25,000 years ago and eruptions have been tracked as far back as 1716.
The volcano is part of the Ring of Fire, a chain of volcanoes and earthquake hotbeds located from Chile in South America to Australia.
The Ring of Fire accounts for 90 percent of the world’s earthquakes and 75 percent of the world’s active and dormant volcanoes.
No injuries have been reported.