The Japan Meteorological Agency has raised the alert level of Sakurajima volcano to 4 out of 5 (prepare to evacuate) on August 15, 2015 after detecting a strong swarm of shallow volcanic earthquakes beneath the Showa crater.
The news comes just 4 days after Kyushu Electric Power Co. began bringing online the No 1. reactor at its Sendai nuclear power station on August 11. This, by the way, is the first nuclear facility to restart in Japan under new safety rules implemented following the 2011 Fukushima disaster. It is located just 50 km (31 miles) from Sakurajima.
