Eruption warning up as lava flows from Mayon

MANILA, Philippines — Government agencies are now preparing measures in anticipation of a major eruption of Mayon Volcano in Albay within weeks or days.

Authorities said the Philippine Institute for Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) has declared Alert Level 3, which means that from increasing unrest, Mayon’s status is now elevated to increased tendency toward hazardous eruption.

“This means Mayon is exhibiting relatively high unrest and that magma is at the crater and hazardous eruption is possible within weeks or even days,” said Ricardo Jalad, executive director of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) and Office of Civil Defense (OCD) administrator.

The NDRRMC, in its latest report yesterday, said preparations are being put in place, including the mandatory evacuation of residents near the volcano.

As of 11 a.m., the OCD in Bicol reported that more than 17,000 residents have been evacuated from 10 barangays in Guinobatan, Camalig and Malilipot towns in the foothills of the 2,460-meter high volcano.

Cedric Daep, chief of the Albay Public Safety and Emergency Management Office (Apsemo), said further evacuations are expected should Mayon continue to display escalating abnormal activities.

NDRMMC spokesperson Romina Marasigan said the government might also order the evacuation of residents in Daraga and Legazpi that could also be affected by lava flow. 

Phivolcs advised people to cover their noses and mouths with a damp, clean cloth or dust mask if they were exposed to ash from the eruptions. It also warned pilots to avoid flying close to the volcano’s summit.

The agency reminded the public not to enter the six-kilometer radius permanent danger zone (PDZ) and the seven-km extended danger zone (EDZ) due to rock fall, landslides and sudden explosions or dome collapse that may generate hazardous volcanic flows.

Known for its almost perfect cone, Mayon Volcano last erupted in 2014. Its most destructive eruption was in February 1841, when lava buried a town and killed 1,200 people. 

Phivolcs said a pyroclastic flow, composed of volcanic debris and fast-moving hot gases, was observed at around 9:41 a.m. yesterday.

The volcano had three phreatic explosions over the weekend that caused ash falls in some areas in Albay.

It showed a bright crater glow on Sunday, signifying lava had started to flow from the crater.

Phivolcs chief Renato Solidum described Mayon’s current activity as a non-explosive magmatic eruption, but he would not rule out a more dangerous volcanic explosion in the coming days.

“What we would like to see is if there would be enough pressure, gas pressure for the next magma that would go up,” he told ABS-CBN News Channel.

Phivolcs raised the volcano alert to level 3 late on Sunday after detecting the lava flow.

Residents sleep at an evacuation center following Mayon Volcano’s eruption in Albay yesterday. AFP

Solidum said raising the alert to level 4, under which the danger zone would be expanded and a hazardous eruption could happen within a few days, depended on how Mayon behaved in the next few hours.

Level 5 indicates an eruption is in progress.

People have been advised to stay away from a six-km radius PDZ and a seven-km EDZ on the volcano’s southern flank.

The NDRRMC said the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Region V has a standby fund of P5.6 million and has prepared more than 13,000 food packs.

The agency said the Department of Education in Region V has inspected schools and classrooms to be used as temporary evacuation centers. 

Lava dome

Phivolcs reported that hours after the alert was raised to Level 3, Mayon Volcano continued its abnormal activities as the lava dome stuck up at its crater began gradually collapsing.

Ed Laguerta, Phivolcs chief volcanologist in Bicol, said both physical observation and instrument-recorded data show that new magma is continuously pushing the dome blocking the crater formed during Mayon’s 2014 “soft eruption.”

Laguerta said that the collapsing lava dome is producing ash columns similar to the 2001 lava collapse.

“The pulverized parts of the hot lava dome and fragments of the lava flow generated a pyroclastic flow,” he said. – With Helen Flores, Rainier Allan Ronda, Rudy Santos, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Cet Dematera

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