BACOLOD CITY, Philippines – Residents of towns and cities near Mt. Kanlaon in Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental have been advised to wear masks as the volcano spewed ash that reached 1,000 meters above the summit on Sunday.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said that based on its seismic records, an eruption occurred at 1:29 p.m. and lasted five minutes.
The eruption was accompanied with a rumbling sound that was heard in Barangays Cabagnaan, La Castellana, Sitio Guintubnan, Ara-al and Yubo in La Carlota City.
The ash explosion reached Pontevedra town in Negros Occidental, which is about 56 kilometers away from the volcano.
Zeaphard Gerhart Caelian, chief of the provincial disaster management program division of Negros Occidental, directed health officers to distribute masks to protect residents from the ash fall.
Caelian said sulphur from the ash fall could trigger asthma and pulmonary problems.
Phivolcs retained the volcano’s alert level 1 status, which means it is exhibiting abnormal condition.