Shinmoedake Volcano in southern Japan erupts, no damage

A column of volcanic smoke rises from the Shinmoedake volcano in Yusui town, Kagoshima prefecture, southern Japan on May 14. (AP) A volcano in southern Japan seen in a James Bond film erupted Monday, shooting grey smoke and ash thousands of meters (feet) into the sky.

The Meteorological Agency said the Shinmoedake volcano had its second major eruption since it exploded in March for the first time since 2011. It had a less-powerful eruption in April. There was no damage from Monday’s eruption. The volcano was seen in the 1967 James Bond film “You Only Live Twice.” Another nearby volcano, Io, erupted recently for the first time in 250 years.

Entry to the 1,421-kms (4,660-foot) -high Shinmoedake has been restricted since the March eruption.

Japan, which sits on the seismically volatile Pacific “Ring of Fire,” has 110 active volcanoes.

Also: PAHOA, Hawaii: A new volcanic fissure on Hawaii’s

sent gases and lava exploding into the air, prompting officials to issue calls for more evacuations as residents awaited a possible major eruption at Kilauea volcano’s summit.

Hawaii County Civil Defense issued an emergency cellphone alert after the fissure was discovered

Big Island

early Sunday morning. The agency said one “unidentified structure” was destroyed by the new vent, bringing the total number of homes and other buildings lost to lava to nearly 40.

Residents living near the fissure were told to evacuate, and two nearby community centers were serving as shelters for people and pets.

Lava spread across hundreds of yards (meters) of private land and loud explosions rocked the neighborhood not far from the Leilani Estates subdivision, where more than a dozen other active vents opened over the past week. (AP)