Thousands evacuated amid Philippines volcano threat
Updated June 8 2023 - 
Seismologists are warning the Philippines' Mayon Volcano is " in a relatively high level of unrest". (AP PHOTO)
Philippine officials have begun evacuating some 10,000 residents living near the country's most active volcano amid threats of a hazardous eruption.
The Mayon Volcano in the eastern province of Albay, which is known for is perfect cone shape, generated pyroclastic density currents or hot flows of ash and debris as lava domes at the summit collapsed, according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs).
"Fair crater glow and incandescent rockfall shed from new fluidal lava at the summit of Mayon Volcano were also observed last night," the institute said in an advisory on Friday.
Mayon is at alert level three, meaning "it is currently in a relatively high level of unrest as magma is at the crater and hazardous eruption is possible within weeks or even days", the advisory continued.
According to the Albay province information office, about 2400 families, or 10,000 residents, will have to evacuate the danger zone.
"As much as possible, I want to maintain the zero casualty record of our province, so ... I hope we'll be able to evacuate them to safer places," Albay Governor Edcel Greco Lagman said during an emergency meeting on Thursday.
Australian Associated Press
Philippines evacuates hundreds of people over Mayon eruption risk
Manila, June 8 (EFE).- The Philippines on Thursday was evacuating of hundreds of people due to the increased risk of eruption of Mayon volcano after a significant increase in seismic activity and rockfall, the Philippines Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) confirmed to EFE.
In the last three days, Phivolcs registered two volcanic earthquakes around Mayon, in the southeast of the island of Luzon, and an increase in rockfall, and on Thursday it raised the alert level from two to three (out of a maximum of five) due to “increased tendency towards a hazardous eruption.”
Given the risk, Phivolcs recommended the evacuation of all residents within a 6-kilometer radius around the volcano and the authorities have prohibited planes from flying over due to the danger posed by the expulsion of ash.
Hundreds of people will have to be evacuated from the villages and settlements around the volcano due to the increased alert, the chief of the Phivolcs Volcano Monitoring and Eruption Prediction Division, Maria Antonia Bornas, told EFE.
In addition, school classes in the towns near Mayon have been suspended since Wednesday.
To the west of the same island, the other of the two most active volcanoes in the Philippines, Taal, increased sulfur dioxide emissions in recent hours, causing an increase in the number of people with respiratory problems in the nearby villages, however alert level one remains for now.
Since October 2021, Taal, located in the province of Batangas and just 80 kilometers from Manila, has increased its emission of toxic gases intermittently, but in recent days one of these episodes has once again alarmed the residents. Its eruption in 2020 forced the evacuation of thousands of people and covered the Philippine capital with ash.
In addition, Mount Kanlaon, another active volcano in the center of the archipelago on the island of Negros, and which is on alert level one, has also registered an increase in its seismic activity in the last 24 hours.
These three volcanoes keep volcanologists on alert, although for now a relationship between the three episodes has been ruled out, according to Bornas, who said that it is “coincidence” since “they are just three of the 24 active volcanoes” in the Philippines. EFE
Philippines on alert as volcano spews ash
Philippine scientists said that a "hazardous eruption" of a volcano in the archipelago could be days or weeks away, and urged the evacuation of nearby residents from their homes.
Hundreds of families living around Mount Mayon in central Albay province are expected to be moved to safer areas after the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology raised the alarm.
Mayon, a near-perfect cone located about 330 kilometers (205 miles) southeast of the capital Manila, is considered one of the most volatile of the country's 24 active volcanoes.
The seismology agency said it observed three fast-moving avalanches of volcanic ash, rock and gases, known as pyroclastic density currents (PDCs), on Mayon's slopes on Thursday.
There are "increased chances of lava flows and hazardous PDCs... and of potential explosive activity within weeks or even days", the agency said, raising the alert level from two to three on a scale of zero to five.
"All necessary preparations are being done," said Eugene Escobar, the Albay provincial disaster management agency's officer-in-charge.
Rommel Negrete, an officer for the agency, said residents would be evacuated from Anoling village on the volcano's slopes.
Meanwhile, Taal volcano, located about 50 kilometers (31 miles) south of Manila, has been releasing sulfur dioxide this week, blanketing surrounding areas in smog and prompting warnings for people to stay indoors.
Steam-rich plumes have been recorded rising two kilometers (1.2 miles) into the sky, the seismology agency said on Thursday. It has left the alert level at one.
Earthquakes and volcanic activity are not uncommon in the Philippines due to its position on the Pacific "Ring of Fire", where tectonic plates collide deep below the Earth's surface.
Five years ago, Mayon displaced tens of thousands of people after spewing millions of tons of ash, rocks and lava.
The most powerful explosion in recent decades was the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo, about 100 kilometers (62 miles) northwest of Manila, which killed more than 800 people.
It sent out an ash cloud that traveled thousands of kilometers in a matter of days and was blamed for damaging nearly two dozen aircraft.
© 2023 AFP
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