Japanese City Covered in Ash after Sakurajima Volcano's 500th Eruption this Year [VIDEO]

Japan's Sakurajima volcano erupted for the 500th time this year on Sunday, blanketing the nearby town of Kagoshima city in ash after a smoke plume shot nearly three miles in the air.

The Kagoshima Local Meteorological Observatory said the 5,000 meter (16,000 foot) ash plume was the volcano's tallest since record keeping began in 1955, NHK World reported.

No injuries or damage were reported as a result of the eruption, which took place Sunday afternoon in Japan's far southwest on the island of Kyushu.

A pyroclastic flow -- a fast-moving current of gas and rock -- was observed on an isolated area of the mountain, according to the Weather Channel.

Sakurajima's eruptions are somewhat of a normal event for residents or Kagoshima, a city of 600,000. Residents took to the streets following the eruption to clean soot off of their property with brooms and water.

The city government deployed more than 60 street-sweeping vehicles and sprinkler trucks to remove ash from roads, NHK World reported. Local railway service was suspended briefly so workers could remove soot from the tracks.

"The smoke was a bit dramatic, but we are kind of used to it," said a city official who requested anonymity because he was not allowed to speak to the media, the Weather Channel reported.

Sakurajima, an almost 3,700 foot tall stratovolcano, has been erupting almost constantly since 1955. The city of Kagoshima, which is only a few miles away from the volcano, regularly conducts volcano evacuation drills.

One of the largest volcanic eruptions in 20th century Japan took place on Sakurajima in 1914, when a Volcanic Explosivity Index level 4 eruption killed 35 people. Huge amounts of lava flowing from the eruption lasted for months and engulfed several nearby islands.