Albay execs issue new Mayon warning

LEGAZPI CITY, Philippines – Authorities issued anew yesterday warnings of a high probability of eruption of Mayon Volcano this week.

Disaster officials focused their warning on the 2,722 families or 13,208 residents of barangays Buyuan, Mabinit, Matanag and Bonga facing the southeast quadrant to brace for a life threatening pyroclastic flow if the volcano suddenly erupts.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) regional office warned of a worst-case scenario.

A new picture of the lava dome with a collapsed crater wall facing Legazpi City was observed during an aerial survey yesterday.

The lava dome, pushed upward to the crater floor due to the continued pressure from the magma chamber underneath, was first seen on Aug. 12.

“With the aerial survey we have seen the lava dome as a whole,” Phivolcs regional chief Ed Laguerta said.

Laguerta said the lava dome is now more than 100 meters, or about half of the 250-meter wide crater, with the height estimated to be that of a 41-story building.

Phivolcs’ latest monitoring detected at least three volcanic earthquakes and 18 rockfall events, with the sulfur dioxide sustained at over 1,000 tons a day, above the normal of 500 tons, for the past three days.

“We should brace for a phreatic explosion that could occur anytime when the lava dome comes into contact with water,” Laguerta said.

He stressed no one should be allowed to enter the six-kilometer permanent danger zone and the extended seven-kilometer limit at the portion facing the Legazpi-Daraga area.

Laguerta warned a pyroclastic flow ejected by Mayon would be deadly as it travels down at 60 kph at 600 degrees Celsius.

“Once pushed by strong pressure, the lava dome might release pyroclastic materials that could be scalded in any direction that may hit to death any living thing along its way,” he said.

Albay Public Safety and Management Office (Apsemo) director Cedric Daep warned all indications point to the imminent eruption of Mayon.

“We should prepare for the worst-case scenario,” he said.

The alert status in Mayon is still at level 3, which means magma is at the crater and eruption is highly possible, Phivolcs director Renato Solidum explained.

“So far we do not see any indicators to raise the alert level to 4 and also we do not see any signs to lower its alert level,” Solidum said.

Daep added the high-risk areas now are those communities located at the southeast sector of the volcano.

“If the ash explosion is due to sectoral collapse the four barangays facing the volcano are highly vulnerable, but if the explosion is vertical all the communities around the volcano are at risk,” he said.

Daep recalled the collapse of the face of the volcano due to a pyroclastic explosion in 1993, which killed at least 77 people, mostly farmers from Barangay Bonga and Mabinit facing the southeast sector of the volcano.

Laguerta added the abnormal behavior of Mayon, including the presence of the lava dome and the lull in other parameters, follows the patterns of the 1968, 1978, 1984 and 2000 eruptions of the country’s most active volcano.

Laguerta said preparations should consider a worst-case scenario, such as immediate evacuation of residents remaining at the foothills. – With Helen Flores, Mayen Jaymalin