VOLCANO ERUPTS IN NORTHERN JAPAN

A volcano erupted in northern Japan on Saturday, following two earlier eruptions in September, the Meteorological Agency said. No injuries or damage were reported. Mount Komagatake, on Japan's northernmost island of Hokkaido, erupted at about 2:43 a.m., belching a pillar of white smoke 3,960 feet into the sky, the agency said. The nearby town of Shikabe was coated with a fine layer of ash. As a precaution, five towns set up disaster prevention headquarters, said meteorological agency official Toshiyuki Ueno. It was too early to say whether new eruptions were likely, said Hirohito Naito, also a meteorological agency official, Associated Press news agency reports.