Giant volcanic cloud that looks like a CAT spews out into skies over Japan

Volcanic eruptions are never much fun for anyone but a giant cat has never appeared from one before now.

The clouds spewing from Mount Kirishima in Japan have taken the Internet by storm because they look exactly like a giant pink cat leaping out of the crater.

The cat-like cloud was photographed above the volcano on the border between Miyazaki and Kagoshima Prefectures on the southern Japanese island of Kyushu.

Kirishima has been erupting since 1st March, at one point belching clouds of ash nearly 15,000 feet high.

The volcano has also been emitting rarely heard rumblings – but the most talked-about thing has been the cat-shaped cloud with its well-defined triangular ears and symmetrical paws.

Naturally, people are wondering if cats have finally won and taken over the planet.

One person wrote: ‘This is awful! Giant cats are laughing at me.’

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Cats are revered in Japan as bringers of good luck and figurines of a beckoning golden feline are widely seen in the country.

Despite the fun people have been having with the cloud, Japanese geologists say the country can expect a far more serious event within the next few years.

It is reported that a ‘major earthquake in the nearby South China Sea’ is likely within two years of the 2020 Summer Olympics, to be held in Japanese capital Tokyo.