A volcano on Japan's major western island of Kyushu has erupted, spewing black smoke and volcanic rock across the sky.

The volcano, which is called Sakurajima and is located on the southern tip of Kyushu near the city of Kagoshima, erupted at about 8:05pm local time on Sunday night, the Japanese Meteorological Agency (JMA) said.

NHK public television cited reports of volcanic stones raining down at a distance of 2.5 km from the volcano. The eruption alert level has been raised to 5, the highest, with some areas advised to evacuate, it added.

Sakurajima in Kumamoto prefecture is one of Japan's most active volcanoes and eruptions of varying levels take place on a regular basis. In 2019 it spewed ash 5.5 km high.

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There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage from Sunday's eruption, deputy chief cabinet secretary Yoshihiko Isozaki told a news conference, as government officials sought more information on the situation.

Nuclear regulators said there were no irregularities detected at the Sendai atomic plant, which lies about 50 km north-west of the volcano.

Video footage showed what appeared to be a red mass flowing down one side of the volcano, with red projectiles shooting upwards.

Most of the city of Kagoshima is across the bay from the volcano but several residential areas are within about 3 km of the crater, including Arimura and Furusato districts.

NHK reported that 51 people across the towns had been ordered to evacuated, with buses being sent to the towns.

During a JMA press conference, a spokesperson from the agency said they were not expecting any large-scale eruptions from the volcano following Sunday's eruption, but warned people to be on alert for pyroclastic flows up to 2 km from the craters.

They also warned residents within a 3 km radius to beware of volcanic ash and stones hitting windows.

The JAM said rain was expected in some areas near the volcano on Monday, but not the kind of heavy rain that could cause mudslides following the eruption.

ABC/Reuters