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Mount Aso in the south-western Japanese prefecture of Kumamoto erupted today (Sept 14), leading to tourists being evacuated and flights cancelled or diverted, authorities said. There were no immediate reports of injuries.

The eruption occurred at around 9.43am (8.43am Singapore time) at one of the peaks that make up one of the world's largest caldera, shooting ash 2,000m into the air and scattering large rocks, the Japan Meteorological Agency said, adding that pyroclastic flows may have occurred, according to todayonline.com.

The agency raised the alert level for the 1,506m Mount Nakadake, one of the five peaks that constitute Mount Aso, to level 3 on the scale of 5, calling on people not to approach the mountain. It said there was danger from falling rocks and smoke from the plume.

A 2,000m column of smoke was last seen in December 1994 and the alert level was raised to three for the first time since the system was introduced in 2007, a local meteorological observatory said.

An area within 4km of the No 1 crater of the mountain was declared off-limits by local authorities, which said there are restaurants and a museum but no houses in the area.

Police and other local authorities said they evacuated about 30 tourists who were near the crater at the time of the eruption.

The crater of Mount Nakadake is accessible to tourists, offering the sight of an active volcano that emits smoke continuously and occasionally erupts.

The operator of Kumamoto Airport, about 20km west of the mountain, said flights have been cancelled or diverted to nearby airports.