LEGAZPI CITY, Philippines – The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) has sought the help of barangay officials in gathering the temporary markers around the six-kilometer permanent danger zone of Mayon Volcano.
“Some of the markers were brought up slope while others were brought two kilometers down,” said Ed Laguerta, Bicol-Phivolcs resident volcanologist during a briefing Tuesday morning, referring to what some villagers have done.
“Our job is to identify the exact point where the markers should be placed,” he added.
The Albay Provincial Disaster and Security Management Office (Apsemo) has requested Phivolcs to put up new markers around the six-kilometer permanent danger zone as evacuees continue to sneak past restricted areas to visit their homes and harvest palay.
“We want concrete markers,” said Apsemo head Cedric Daep.
Meanwhile, Laguerta said they could not downgrade the alert level even though lava flow at the volcano slowed down yesterday.
“Sluggish lava continues to trickle but stops short of sustaining it toward a full blown eruption,” he said.
Phivolcs’ latest monitoring did not detect any volcanic quake while sulfur dioxide emission was at 272 tons a day, below its normal output of 500 tons a day.
“Alert Level 4 will be raised if the indicators show the volcano is approaching hazardous eruption,” said Laguerta.