Mayon activity escalates; lava fountains rise above crater

(Updated 5:30 p.m.) Mayon Volcano in Albay province has exhibited increased activity in the past 24 hours, with red hot lava continuously flowing down along three gullies and lava fountains rising above its crater, state volcanologists said on Monday. In its 7 a.m. bulletin, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) also said booming and rumbling sounds were being heard since Sunday night, in what appears to be an imminent eruption. "Red hot lava also continuously flowed down along the Bonga-Buyuan, Miisi and Lidong gullies. Lava fountains rising approximately 200 meters above the crater were observed…The lava front has now reached about five kilometers downslope from the summit along the Bonga-Buyuan gullies," it added. Bonga, Buyuan, Miisi and Lidong are villages on the southeastern side of the volcano. In the last 24 hours, about 1,942 volcanic earthquakes were detected while the sulfur dioxide emission rate remained high at 6,089 tons per day. Audible booming and rumbling sounds were likewise reported in the eastern flank of the volcano on Sunday afternoon. Phivolcs said Alert Level 4 remains hoisted over Mayon Volcano, meaning a hazardous eruption is possible within days. Level 5 is when a major eruption has begun.

See the complete table on the Phivolcs website.

The cone-shaped volcano began emitting red-hot lava and puffing columns of ash last week. It belched a plume of grayish ash half a mile (nearly a kilometer) into the sky Sunday, and lava has flowed about 4.5 kilometers down the mountainside, said Albay Gov. Joey Salceda. A major eruption can trigger pyroclastic flows — superheated gas and volcanic debris that can race down the slopes at very high speed, vaporizing everything in their path. There can be more extensive ejections of ash, which can drift toward nearby townships. In Mayon's major eruptions in recent years, such pyroclastic flows have reached up to six kilometers down from the crater on the volcano's southern flank — a farming region where most residents have been evacuated as of Monday. Mayon last erupted in 2006, when about 30,000 people were moved. Another eruption in 1993 killed 79 people. The first recorded eruption was in 1616 but the most destructive came in 1814, killing more than 1,200 people and burying a town in volcanic mud. The ruins of the church in Cagsawa have become an iconic tourist spot. No need to suspend flights yet Despite the danger from Mayon’s impending eruption, Phivolcs director Renato Solidum Jr. said there was no need to suspend flights at Legazpi Airport in Albay, at least for now. "Wala naman, depende yan sa Civil Aviation Office (No, we’d leave that to the Civil Aviation Office)," he said on radio dzBB, when asked if Phivolcs would recommend the suspension of flights. He said the activity at Mayon is not significant enough to affect aircraft passing through Albay, at least for now.
Cat-and-mouse game As of Monday morning, Salceda said a total of 9,217 families or 44,394 people from the municipalities of Camalig, Daraga, Malilipot, Sto. Domingo, Ligao, Guinobatan, and the cities of Legazpi and Tabaco have been evacuated since last week. Army troops and police have also intensified patrols to enforce a round-the-clock ban on villagers moving within an eight-kilometer danger zone around the 8,070-foot (2,460-meter) mountain, Salceda said. Army checkpoints have been set up and patrols have been intensified to ensure residents will not sneak back to check on their homes and farms, as some have done in recent days, he added. Salceda said residents are used to playing a "cat and mouse" game with Mayon, a popular tourist attraction because of its near-perfect cone shape. Residents who briefly returned to their homes within the danger zone Sunday morning to check on their belongings reported hearing eerie rumbling sounds. Some were seen by journalists tending to their farms within the prohibited zone near Guinobatan town. Among the residents forcibly evacuated by Army soldiers from Mayon’s danger zone were two elderly residents. Radio dzBB’s Allan Gatus reported the two, initially identified as Ananias Llobic, 82; and Jimmy Lloreta, 65, were unable to flee their homes due to their medical conditions. The report said Llobic was deaf and had difficulty walking, while Lloreta was a paralytic with high blood condition. The two were brought to an evacuation center aboard an ambulance. P1-M donation Moved by the plight of the evacuees, acting Defense Secretary Norberto Gonzales would donate P1 million from his own pockets to be spent for Christmas gifts for the locals, according to a report by GMA News’ Mariz Umali on QTV's Balitanghali. This, even as Gonzales lauded the provincial government for its preparatory measures as Mayon threatens to erupt anytime soon. "The danger that the volcano is posing is real, but it seems like everything is under control because of the very good organization that the coordinating council of Albay has been doing for years. This should be a model for us in other parts of the country," he said. Holiday blues To help the evacuees cope with having to spend the holidays away from home, Salceda said authorities would prepare Christmas parties for their temporary residents. Singing contests and movie screenings are among the line-up of entertainment for the evacuees. Salceda was quoted as saying that the money to be donated by the defense chief would be used to buy gifts for some 25,000 children taking refuge in various evacuation centers in the affected municipalities and cities near Mayon. In a joint conference on Monday with the Regional Disaster Coordinating Council and the Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council, Salceda also called on medical practitioners to help attend to the evacuees. The report said President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo called during the conference to check on the condition and needs of the evacuees. She said the national government would ensure that all the evacuees’ needs are met. The Department of Health has likewise set aside P3 million pesos to be spent for supplies needed to prevent an outbreak of contagious diseases among the evacuees. - with a report from Sophia Dedace, Carmela Lapeña and AP/RSJ/NPA, GMANews.TV