OCD tells Negros LGUs: Prepare for Alert Level 4

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines — As volcanic activities persist at Kanlaon, the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) in Western Visayas urged local governments and disaster officials on Negros Island to prepare for a possible escalation to Alert Level 4.

Under the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology classification, Alert Level 4 refers to an imminent hazardous eruption. Phivolcs maintained Alert Level 3 for Kanlaon Volcano, a reference to an increased chance of a sudden and stronger explosive eruption.

Raul Fernandez, OCD Western Visayas chief and head of Task Force Kanlaon, urged on Monday all disaster reduction and local government officials, including Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson, to prepare for the worst.

During the meeting, Phivolcs presented its findings from a Dec. 12 aerial survey and highlighted the volcano’s recent activities that include ash emissions and low-frequency earthquakes.

Phivolcs said 2,181 tectonic earthquakes have been recorded since June 3, with inflation observed in the eastern and northeastern sectors of the volcano since July and deflation in the southeastern and western sectors since November.

In the past 24 hours, Phivolcs recorded four ash emission events, lasting between 21 minutes to four hours and 35 minutes. It also recorded 25 volcanic quakes and four very weak volcanic tremors.

The “alarming increase” in volcanic ash emissions at Kanlaon Volcano on Monday raised fears of dangerous lahar flow, if heavy rains continue.

The OCD instructed all local government units to activate their contingency plans for worst-case scenarios, adding that ash emissions could reach as far as Guimaras Island off Panay.

Lacson, citing a Phivolcs report, noted an estimated three million cubic meters of lahar deposits on the slopes of Kanlaon.

“The danger is, if there is a major rainfall, it could bring down lahar deposits, which would greatly affect the condition in the area and communities below,” Lacson said.

He added that the group agreed during Monday’s meeting to keep the status quo on the six-kilometer extended danger zone.

Earlier, Fernandez suggested the expansion of the danger zone to 10 kilometers.

Lacson said the provincial government’s quick reaction fund “will be good for at least a month.”

A total of 2,672 families or 8,642 people have been evacuated from the extended danger zone in Negros Occidental. Canlaon City, on the Oriental side, have evacuated 2,325 families, or 7,548 people. — Romina Cabrera