Evacuations as Japan's Sakurajima volcano continues to rumble

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

Japan's Meteorological Agency raised the eruption alert to the highest level of five and advised 51 residents in two towns facing the volcano to leave their homes.

By Monday morning, 33 of them left their homes for a nursing care facility in a safer part of the region, apparently to Kagoshima city.

Large rocks fell as far as 2.5 kilometers (1.5 miles) from the Sakurajima volcano Sunday night in the southern prefecture of Kagoshima.

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Footage from Japan's NHK public television showed orange flames flashing near the crater and dark smoke and ash billowing high above the mountaintop.

There have been no reports of damage or injuries so far.

Sakurajima on the main southern island of Kyushu is one of Japan's most active volcanoes and has erupted repeatedly.It used to be an island but became a peninsula following an eruption in 1914 that killed 58 people.

Sakurajima is about 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) southwest of Tokyo.