Two volcanoes in different parts of the world erupted on Friday, one on the Indian Ocean island of Réunion, the other in the Central American country of Guatemala.

A volcano southwest of Guatemala City, the capital, spewed ash and lava, but authorities said the situation was not serious enough to warrant evacuations.

Emergency teams were on alert to begin moving people to safety from the base of the Volcano of Fire in case of a full-scale eruption, said Sergio Cabanas, a local official.

In Saint-Denis-de-la-Réunion, France, meanwhile, officials have reported that one of the most active volcanoes in the world erupted on Friday, AFP reported.

They could not say how intense the eruption is at the 2,631-metre Piton de la Fournaise, the Indian Ocean island of Réunion's only active volcano.

The Guatemalan volcano, which overlooks the colonial city of Antigua about 50 kilometres southwest of Guatemala City, blanketed parts of the capital with a fine layer of soot on Thursday.

It was expected to remain active through the night, but the lava flow was not likely to increase, the national volcano and earthquake centre said in a statement.

The Volcano of Fire has erupted repeatedly since 1524, with the last major eruption in 1974.

Antigua was the capital of Guatemala until the collapse of the crater of the nearby Volcano of Water caused a mudslide that buried the city in 1541. In 1717, heightened activity in the Volcano of Fire caused an earthquake that destroyed the city of Antigua again.