Mt Asama erupts twice in Japan

A volcano in central Japan spewed smoke high into the sky on Tuesday afternoon in its second eruption in a day, but officials said the scale did not appear to be large. Mount Asama, a 2,568 m peak, sent greyish smoke about 1,000 m into the sky around 3.30 pm, an official at Japan’s Meteorological Agency said. The volcano, one of Japan’s more active, had spewed smoke 300 metres high for several minutes before dawn. There were no reports of injuries in either eruption.

‘‘These were small eruptions,’’ a Meteorological Agency official said. ‘‘More could well lie ahead,’’ the official added. —(Reuters)