An aerial view shows Shinmoedake volcano erupting on Jan. 27. Ash and rocks fell across a wide swathe of southern Japan straddling the prefectures of Miyazaki and Kagoshima on Thursday, as one of Mount Kirishima's many calderas erupted, prompting authorities to raise alert levels and call for an evacuation of all residents within a 1.2 mile radius of the volcano.

A handout photo taken and released by the Kirishima city government on Jan. 27 shows smoke rising from Mt. Shinmoedake in the Kirishima mountain range in Kagoshima prefecture, in Japan's southern island of Kyushu. The volcano erupted on Jan. 26.