Mount Shinmoe continued to erupt on Saturday, prompting the Meteorological Agency to expand the area deemed at risk of flying rocks.
Two explosive eruptions were observed at around 1:55 a.m. and 4:25 a.m. on the 1,421-meter volcano, which straddles Kagoshima and Miyazaki prefectures in Kyushu, the Meteorological Agency said.
The eruptions hurled huge rocks as far as 1.8 km from the crater and spewed ash 4,500 meters into the sky, the highest since the eruptions began on March 1, the agency said.
While continuing to restrict access to the mountain, the agency expanded the radius of the area at risk of falling rocks to 4 km, up from 3 km.
