TOKYO: A violent volcanic eruption in southern Japan forced scores of people to evacuate and shot a huge column of ash high into the air.

Footage by the Japan Meteorological Agency captured the moment the plume rocketed from Mount Shindake on the far southern island of Kuchinoerabu.

The black cloud reached as high as 9,000m, the agency said, and was accompanied by a five-minute volcanic quake.

Top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said there were no reported injuries and that less than two hours after the eruption, most of the island’s 137 inhabitants had moved to an evacuation centre, where they were waiting for coastguard boats.

Television pictures showed the after-effects of the pyroclastic flow, which had cascaded down the mountainside towards one of the island’s harbours.

Community leader Nobuaki Hayashi told NHK of how the eruption, which came around 10am had blocked out the morning light.

Others spoke of “a big bang” when the volcano burst into life. — AFP/thestar