A volcano on Sakurajima in southwestern Japan erupted again on Sunday.

The Minamidake crater spewed a column of smoke and ash thousands of meters (yards) into the air.

It is the first eruption from the crater since October last year.

Authorities issued an ashfall alert for the surrounding prefectures of Kumamoto, Kagoshima, and Miyazaki.

Sakurajima, about 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) southwest of Tokyo, is one of Japan's most active volcanoes.

It used to be an island but a lava flow created a land bridge to the Osumi Peninsula during the 1914 eruption that killed 58 people.