The Philippines’ most active volcano, Mayon, has started releasing lava down its slopes, threatening the homes of thousands of primarily impoverished farmers. On Sunday night, lava began to erupt on the slopes of Mayon, prompting the head of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, Teresito Bacolcol, to warn that officials were on high alert. “What we’re seeing now is an effusive eruption,” Bacolcol told the Associated Press. We are taking a daily look at it. Since last week, at least 12,800 people have been forced to leave their homes within a 6 km (3.7 mi) radius of the Mayon volcano. Bacolcol warned that the high-risk area might grow if the eruption becomes more intense.
Many thousands of people continue to live in the permanent risk zone below Mayon, located approximately 330 kilometers (205 miles) southeast of the capital Manila, since they have nowhere else to go. Approximately 260 rockfall episodes have occurred in the past 24 hours, compared to 177 in the preceding 24 hours, which volcanologists believe is more evidence of rising activity. There were also 21 earthquakes registered in the recent 24 hours, up from two the day before. State volcanologists reported that sulphur dioxide emissions had increased by a factor of three on Saturday. “There is a concomitant health risk while being close to the eruption because of inhaling sulphur dioxide gas or the particulate matter of ash-falls,” Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa said during a press event on Sunday. According to the Philippines’ five-step scale, the volcano’s warning status remains at three, indicating an impending dangerous eruption. under case of a big eruption of the cone-shaped Mayon, the province of Albay was declared to be under a state of emergency on Friday so that disaster assistance funding could be dispersed more quickly.
Mayon, one of the Philippines’ 24 active volcanoes, had its most recent major eruption in 2018, forcing the evacuation of tens of thousands of residents. The Pacific “Ring of Fire,” a ring of seismic faults where most earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur, surrounds the island. Typhoons and tropical storms are common in this region, and one is expected to hit later this week. Mount Pinatubo’s 1991 eruption was the most violent in recent decades, killing over 800 people and sending an ash cloud thousands of miles over the country.
