Kanlaon Volcano experiences more ash events in early November

MANILA, Philippines — Kanlaon Volcano has been releasing plumes of ash more often in early November, the latest event occurring on Thursday morning, November 7.

Phivolcs captured a time-lapse of the “ashing” event reaching up to 500 meters above the crater at 5:55 a.m. on Thursday, which was recorded by the IP Camera at the Barangay Mansalanao Observation Station in La Castellana, Negros Occidental.  

State seismologists attributed this activity to Kanlaon’s continuous degassing, marked by high sulfur dioxide emissions since its eruption in June.

LOOK: Time-lapse footage of gray ash being entrained or brought out by continuous degassing from the Kanlaon Volcano summit crater. The "ashing" event was observed at 05:55 AM today. No detectable seismic or infrasound signals were recorded. The events generated grayish plumes… pic.twitter.com/zXx2Y2dvVO

— PHIVOLCS-DOST (@phivolcs_dost) November 6, 2024

On November 6, Kanlaon Volcano emitted two ash plumes that rose up to 750 meters. Phivolcs also reported ash emissions twice on November 4 and six times on November 3. 

This brings the total number of ash events in the first week of November to 11 as of Thursday morning, November 7.

Volcanic earthquakes. A significant number of volcanic earthquakes have also been recorded, following the 84 earthquakes detected on October 31. Of these, 64 were volcanic-tectonic earthquakes, resulting from a rock fracturing or strain on weak faults near the volcano.

From November 1 to November 6 alone, Phivolcs recorded a total of 82 volcanic earthquakes at Kanlaon Volcano. On November 1, there were 31 earthquakes, with 14 recorded on both November 2 and November 6.

Sulfur dioxide flux. Kanlaon expelled sulfur dioxide emissions on November 6 at more than twice the rate recorded on November 5, increasing from 2,066 tonnes per day to 4,900 tonnes per day.

However, the sulfur dioxide flux on November 6 was slightly lower than the 6,993 tonnes per day recorded on November 1.

Nonetheless, Phivolcs said emissions surged in 2024 since the eruption in June, with instances where Kanlaon released up to 14,000 tonnes of sulfur dioxide.

The emissions and plume heights recorded during the first week of November were classified as “voluminous.” 

Phivolcs has maintained Kanlaon Volcano at Alert Level 2, indicating increased unrest and the possibility of a higher alert level or further eruptive activity.