Mayon eruption looms; locals told to leave

by ABBY BOISER, MA. APRIL MIER-MANJARES Inquirer.net

THE Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) on Thursday, June 8 warned that a “hazardous eruption” of Mayon Volcano could be weeks or days away, prompting the local government of Albay to order the mandatory evacuation of residents inside the 6-kilometer radius permanent danger zone.

Phivolcs 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.

Phivolcs recorded a total of 267 rockfall events and two volcanic earthquakes from June 5 to June 8, photo