Tokyo (CNN)Residents of the Japanese island of Kuchinoerabu have been urged to evacuate to get out of the path of an erupting volcano.
Mount Shindake, located in the center of the island, erupted shortly before 10 a.m. local time, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.
A few minutes after the volcano erupted, the agency raised its eruption-alert level from three to the highest level of five.
Pyroclastic flows have reached the island's shore and the municipal government has issued an evacuation order to all of the island's 137 residents, officials said.
Kuchinoerabu Island is 130 kilometers southwest of Kagoshima city in the country's south.
Photos: Recently active volcanoes
This May 8 file photo of the Bogoslof volcano in Alaska's Aleutian islands shows a crater now filled by a warm saltwater lake. The volcano erupted on Bogoslof Island on Sunday, May 28, producing an ash cloud that reached up to 45,000 feet, according to the Alaska Volcano Observatory.
Hide Caption
1 of 25
Photos: Recently active volcanoes
Villagers look on as Mount Sinabung volcano spews thick volcanic ash in Karo, Indonesia, on Friday, May 19.
Hide Caption
2 of 25
Photos: Recently active volcanoes
The Turrialba volcano spews smoke and ash in May 2016 in Cartago, Costa Rica. Experts say it is the strongest eruption from the volcano in the past six years.
Hide Caption
3 of 25
Photos: Recently active volcanoes
The Pavlof volcano erupts on Alaska's remote Aleutian Island archipelago in March 2016.
Hide Caption
4 of 25
Photos: Recently active volcanoes
The Ecuadorian volcano Tungurahua spews lava and ash in Cahuaji, about 80 miles south of Quito, in February 2016. Authorities raised the alert level from yellow to orange after the volcano increased its activity and projected a column of ash 3 miles high.
Hide Caption
5 of 25
Photos: Recently active volcanoes
The Soputan volcano spews lava and ash during an eruption on Indonesia's Sulawesi island in January 2016.
Hide Caption
6 of 25
Photos: Recently active volcanoes
The Momotombo volcano erupts just before daybreak in Leon, Nicaragua, on December 4, 2015. The volcano had been quiet for many years.
Hide Caption
7 of 25
Photos: Recently active volcanoes
Smoke rises over the Italian city of Taormina during an eruption of Mount Etna, one of the most active volcanoes in the world, in December 2015.
Hide Caption
8 of 25
Photos: Recently active volcanoes
Cotopaxi, a volcano in Ecuador, sends large gray puffs of ash into the sky on August 14, 2015. Officials declared a yellow alert, the lowest level.
Hide Caption
9 of 25
Photos: Recently active volcanoes
Thick ash, rock fragments and volcanic gases pour from Mount Sinabung in Indonesia. The government's natural disaster management agency raised the alert level on June 5, 2015.
Hide Caption
10 of 25
Photos: Recently active volcanoes
Mount Shindake spews ash on Kuchinoerabu Island in Yakushima, Japan, in May 2015. The volcano erupted shortly before 10 a.m. local time, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.
Hide Caption
11 of 25
Photos: Recently active volcanoes
The Wolf volcano at Isabela Island -- the largest of the Galapagos Islands west of mainland Ecuador -- erupts May 25, 2015 for the first time in 33 years.
Hide Caption
12 of 25
Photos: Recently active volcanoes
The Calbuco volcano erupts near Puerto Varas, Chile, in April 2015.
Hide Caption
13 of 25
Photos: Recently active volcanoes
Smoke rises from the Turrialba volcano in Turrialba, Costa Rica, in March 2015. Eruptions of ash and stones prompted authorities to evacuate residential areas.
Hide Caption
14 of 25
Photos: Recently active volcanoes
The Fuego volcano spews a cloud of ash west of Guatemala City, Guatemala, in March 2015.
Hide Caption
15 of 25
Photos: Recently active volcanoes
Villarrica, a Chilean volcano, began erupting in March 2015. The volcano is one of Chile's most active.
Hide Caption
16 of 25
Photos: Recently active volcanoes
Lava flows from the Kilauea volcano in Pahoa, Hawaii, in October 2014. The flow picked up speed, prompting emergency officials to close part of the main road through town and tell residents to be prepared to evacuate.
Hide Caption
17 of 25
Photos: Recently active volcanoes
Japan's Mount Sakurajima erupts in September 2014. It was the second volcano in two days to erupt in Japan.
Hide Caption
18 of 25
Photos: Recently active volcanoes
Dense white plumes rise high in the air as Mount Ontake erupts in central Japan in September 2014.
Hide Caption
19 of 25
Photos: Recently active volcanoes
Mount Slamet spews lava and gas during an eruption in Brebes, Indonesia, in September 2014.
Hide Caption
20 of 25
Photos: Recently active volcanoes
Fountains of lava spurt from a fissure in the ground on the north side of the Bardarbunga volcano in Iceland in September 2014.
Hide Caption
21 of 25
Photos: Recently active volcanoes
Mount Tavurvur erupts in Papua New Guinea in August 2014, forcing local communities to evacuate.
Hide Caption
22 of 25
Photos: Recently active volcanoes
The Karymsky volcano erupts in Kamchatka, Russia, in January 2013.
Hide Caption
23 of 25
Photos: Recently active volcanoes
The Copahue volcano emits smoke and ash above Caviahue, in Argentina's Neuquen province, in December 2012.
Hide Caption
24 of 25
Photos: Recently active volcanoes
Western Mexico's Colima volcano emits lava in October 2004. The Global Volcanism Program reported "a bright thermal anomaly" as well as gas emission in November 2013.
Hide Caption
25 of 25
