Mayon Volcano shows increased activity anew

LEGAZPI CITY , Philippines — A sudden change in abnormal behavior has been detected again on Mayon Volcano, with its tremors occuring 111 times and lasting 28 minutes, while accompanied by rumbling sounds and 221 volcanic earthquakes in the past 24 hours, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said yesterday.

Phivolcs’ records showed that the figures of Mayon’s abnormal parameters were higher than those logged the other day of 58 tremor events that lasted up to 13 minutes and 45 volcanic earthquakes.

Paul Alanis, Phivolcs resident volcanologist at the Lignon Hill Observatory in this city, said  that Mayon’s abnormal signs were higher compared to the previous day, but these are still within the Alert Level 3 category.

“These abnormal sighs lack energy and pressure to trigger an explosive eruption,” Alanis told The STAR yesterday.

Alanis said lava flows remained at 3.4, 2.8 and 1.1 kilometers at the Bonga, Mi-isi and Basud gullies, respectively.

“Lava flow continues as magma is also ascending to the surface of Mayon for over two months already,” Alanis said.

Phivolcs detected 152 rockfall events, three pyroclastic density currents, three lava front-collapses and 799 tons of sulfur dioxide emissions during the 24-hour monitoring period.

As these developed, the municipal governments of Daraga and Guinobatan decided to postpone their fiesta celebrations due to Mayon’s sudden change in behavior.

Daraga Mayor Carlwyn Baldo said that instead of celebrating the fiesta on Sept. 8, the local government would instead serve the barangays through its Arangkada Banwa program.

Guinobatan Mayor Paul Chino Garcia said they would defer their Longganisa Festival as hundreds of residents are still in evacuation centers.

“We will just resume our Longganisa Festival celebration once Mayon’s normal behavior returns,” Garcia said.

Meanwhile, disaster management officials in Albay are seeking the passage of a law that will prohibit the establishment of residential structures within Mayon’s six-kilometer-radius permanent danger zone.

The call was raised after some evacuees continued to sneak into the danger zone to check on their houses, tend their plantations or feed their animals despite the possibility of a hazardous eruption.

Records show that the provincial government has to evacuate more than 5,000 families or 25,000 people every time Mayon’s alert level is raised to three, and at least 60,000 families when Alert Level 4 to 5 is hoisted.

Cedric Daep, chief of the Albay disaster management office, said that aside from relocating evacuees in areas far and safe from Mayon’s threats, passing a law that would ban the establishment of permanent dwellings inside the danger zone is now an urgent matter.

Daep lamented reports that some of the relocated evacuees sold their houses at the relocation sites and returned to the slopes of Mayon where the sources of their livelihood are located.