Japan’s Sakurajima volcano erupts, ashfall cancels flights

November 16, 2025 5:58 PM

Japan’s Sakurajima volcano erupts, ashfall cancels flights

A volcano on Japan's major western island of Kyushu erupted multiple times on Sunday, sending a plume of smoke and ash as high as 4.4 kilometres (2.73 miles) into the air and causing dozens of flight cancellations. The volcano, which is called Sakurajima and is located on the southern tip of Kyushu near the city of Kagoshima, erupted at about 1 a.m. (1600 GMT on Saturday), the Japanese Meteorological Agency (JMA) said. There were two more eruptions at about 2:30 a.m. and 8:50 a.m. It is the fi...

Magnitude 5.5 earthquake strikes southwestern Japan

July 3, 2025 1:45 PM

Magnitude 5.5 earthquake strikes southwestern Japan

An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.5 hit a remote island in southwestern Japan on Thursday, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. The earthquake's epicentre was off the coast of the Tokara island chain in Kagoshima prefecture nearly 1,200 kilometres (745 miles) from Tokyo, the agency said, adding that a tsunami warning had not been issued. The quake hit at a depth of 20 km (12 miles), giving it a seismic intensity of '6 lower' on Japan's 1-7 scale on Akuseki Island, the agency sai...