Picture shows magma along a 1-km-long fissure in a lava field north of the Vatnajokull glacier, which covers part of Bardarbunga volcano system, August 29, 2014. The eruption is at the tip of a magma dyke around 40 km from the main Bardarbunga crater and
Picture shows magma along a 1-km-long fissure in a lava field north of the Vatnajokull glacier, which covers part of Bardarbunga volcano system, August 29, 2014. The eruption is at the tip of a magma dyke around 40 km from the main Bardarbunga crater and activity subsided to relatively low levels after peaking between 0020 and 0200 GMT, Iceland Met Office seismologist Martin Hensch said. Iceland's Meteorological Office on Friday downgraded its volcano alert level to orange from red and said a small eruption that started during the night is not a threat to aviation. REUTERS/Marco Nescher (ICELAND - Tags: ENVIRONMENT TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)
Picture shows magma along a 1-km-long fissure in a lava field north of the Vatnajokull glacier, which covers part of Bardarbunga volcano system, August 29, 2014. The eruption is at the tip of a magma dyke around 40 km from the main Bardarbunga crater and activity subsided to relatively low levels after peaking between 0020 and 0200 GMT, Iceland Met Office seismologist Martin Hensch said. Iceland's Meteorological Office on Friday downgraded its volcano alert level to orange from red and said a small eruption that started during the night is not a threat to aviation. REUTERS/Marco Nescher (ICELAND - Tags: ENVIRONMENT TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)

Mount Ontake in Japan erupted before noon on Saturday, Sept 27, spewing a large ash plume 3 kilometres up the sky, trapping at least 250 climbers near its summit and injuring at least 8 hikers, reports NHK World TV.

The active 3,067-metre volcano is at the border of the Nagano and Gifu prefectures, part of mountain ranges running down Honshu, the main island of Japan.

The eruption promoted the country's meteorological bureau to raise the alert level to 3 on a scale of 1 to 5. The agency advised people to stay away from the volcano. It forecast more eruptions and warned that lava flow could fall within a 4-kilometre range of its crater.

The eruption could affect flights out of Tanegashima and Yakushima airports, but Japan Airlines aid all of their flights would operate normally.

The volcano was believed to be inactive until 1979 when it had a series of eruptions over the following year. In produced a column of 1,500 metres and ashfall was up to Maebashi City which is 150 kilometres away. Mount Ontake was inactive for over 300,000 until its first eruption on Oct 28, 1979.

A hiker had posted a video of the eruption in YouTube.

YouTube/ALEAKS