The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) on Friday, December 28 placed the Mayon Volcano on Alert Level 2 — indicated a moderate level of unrest — as it continuously spews out ashes.
“Alert Level 2 currently prevails over Mayon Volcano. This means that Mayon is at a moderate level of unrest,” Phivolcs said in a statement.
There have been at least four volcanic quakes recorded in the last 24 hours. Philvocs confirmed that two of these earthquakes were related to phreatic blasts otherwise known as ash explosions recorded at 8:17 a.m. and 8:25 a.m. on Thursday.
Authorities have warned residents to stay out of the six-kilometer radius permanent danger zone to sway away from sudden explosions, lava collapses, pyroclastic density currents and ashfall that could still occur and threaten areas in the upper to middle slopes of Mayon.
“Active stream or river channels and those identified as perennially lahar-prone areas on all sectors of the volcano should also be avoided especially during extreme weather conditions when there is heavy and prolonged rainfall,” Phivolcs advised as reported by The Philippine Star.
The institute explained that the explosions were caused by a steam pressure that formed way below the Mayon’s vent as it spurted out grayish to grayish-white ash plumes that rose 600 meters and 200 meters above the summit.
Phivolcs Director Renato Solidum said that the explosions were possibly caused by the sudden degassing of magma inside the volcano’s chamber. However, he assured that the current explosions would not warrant yet the raising of its alert level to three.
Mayon remains under Alert Level 2 after its full-blown eruption episodes that started January and simmered down in March early this year.
Before the events, Phivolcs said Mayon’s seismic monitoring network recorded a volcanic earthquake in the past 24 hours.
“Fair crater glow from the summit could be (also) observed at night,” Phivolcs said.
