Watch: Mount Shindake erupts in spectacular fashion, evacuation ordered

A volcano on the remote southern-Japanese island of Kuchinoerabujima erupted suddenly on Friday, blasting plumes of black smoke high into the sky. Authorities have started evacuating the island and airlines have been asked to re-route flights. A pyroclastic flow of super-heated gas and rock flowed down the side of Mount Shindake and reached the ocean after the mountain's "explosive" eruption at around 10 am, but officials said there was no danger to human life. Mount Shindake last erupted in August last year, for the first time since 1980. The area where that pyroclastic flow occurred has been off limits since then.