Mt. Sakurajima, a volcano in southwestern Japan's Kagoshima Prefecture, erupted Friday, the Meteorological Agency said, in the first major event there in nine months.

A plume of ash spewed from the 1,117-meter volcano's Showa crater in the 11:01 a.m. eruption, reaching about 3.2 kilometers into the sky, the agency said, adding that similar major eruptions could occur.

The last major eruption occurred at the mountain on July 26, 2016.