Mayon Volcano spews lava, officials raise alert



Agence France-Presse, Associated Press, Inquirer
Last updated 10:33pm (Mla time) 07/14/2006


LEGASPI -- (3RD UPDATE) Lava was seen trickling down the slopes of Mayon Volcano early Friday evening, raising fears a dangerous eruption could be imminent and prompting authorities to upgrade the alert level around it.

"Lava pieces steamed out of the crater," said an official of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs), while stressing it was not yet a hazardous eruption.

At 6:17 p.m., Phivolcs raised the five-step alert level around Mayon Volcano from 1 to 3 after observers saw “lava trickles” or "detached fragments" flowing down the southeast quadrant portion of the 2,474-meter (8,118-foot) volcano around 6 p.m.

Phivolcs chief Renato Solidum said scientists were expecting lava flows after the volcano spewed ash on Thursday. About 50 volcanic earthquakes also had been recorded over the past two days, he said.

"A hazardous eruption is possible. We don't know when, maybe within weeks," he said. "It is a quiet eruption as of now."

Residents in the city of Legaspi, close to the volcano, said that they could see glowing, red lava accumulating at the top of Mayon's crater.

Raising the alert level to 3 meant a slight potential of eruption that would affect areas within the six-kilometer danger zone, resident volcanologist Eduardo Laguerta said.

He said having detached fragments is technically considered a silent eruption that could affect areas of the villages of Bonga, Buyuan, and Padang, all located at the foot of the volcano.

"But there's nothing to worry about since it would take days or weeks before a major eruption will happen. It will remain at alert level three as long as this particular detached fragments of lava continue," he said.

The government maintains a six-kilometer (3.75 mile) "permanent danger zone" around the peak, but many residents still live on or farm the slopes of the country's most famous volcano, about 340 kilometers (210 miles) southeast of Manila.

Cedric Daep, head of the Albay Public Safety and Emergency Management Office, where Mayon is located, said because of the "relatively high unrest" authorities will strictly bar mountain climbers, farmers and other visitors from venturing into the danger zone.

Daep also instructed the concerned Barangay Disaster Coordinating Councils to be prepared for possible evacuation.

Mayor Noel Rosal immediately went to the affected villages to monitor the situation.

Mayon, one of the country's 22 active volcanos, last came to life in a series of eruptions in 2001, forcing the evacuation of about 50,000 people. It has erupted about 50 times since 1616.

Mayon's most violent eruption, in 1814, killed more than 1,200 people and buried an entire town in volcanic mud. An eruption in 1993 killed 79 people.

The Philippines is in the Pacific "Ring of Fire," where volcanic activity and earthquakes are common. Bulusan volcano, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) south of Mayon, has ejected ash in about five minor explosions since March.

In June 1991, Mount Pinatubo exploded in the northern Philippines in one of the world's biggest volcanic eruptions of the 20th century, killing about 800 people. Gil Francis G. Arevalo, Inquirer Southern Luzon Bureau

best volcano in the philippines.

perfectly shaped cone

that is one sexy volcano ^_^