Japan volcano erupts, forces evacuation of 2 towns

TOKYO: Dozens of people have evacuated two towns on Japan's main southern island of Kyushu, where a volcano spewed ash and large rocks into the nighttime sky.

Large rocks fell as far as 2.5 kilometers (1.5 miles) from the Sakurajima volcano on Sunday night in the southern prefecture of Kagoshima. Footage on public television station Nippon Hoso Kyokai (NHK or Japan Broadcasting Corp.) showed orange flames flashing near the crater and dark smoke with ash billowing high above the mountaintop.