Kanlaon spews ashes

Government volcanologists reported two mild ash explosions at Kanlaon Volcano in Negros Occidental last Wednesday, and warned trekkers against going to the summit.

"The voluminous dirty white steam clouds reached heights of up to 300 meters above the volcano’s summit before drifting to the northwest and southwest," said the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) in a statement.

The ashes from the eruption clouds were deposited in Guintubdan, Upper Sag-ang and Upper Mansalanao, it added.

The ash explosions, which began Wednesday afternoon, however, were not reflected on the seismograph of Phivolcs’ Kanlaon Volcano Observatory in La Carlota City, indicating that they took place at shallow levels within the crater.

Alert level 1 is still imposed at Kanlaon Volcano. So is the four-kilometer radius permanent danger zone around it because "steam and ash explosions may occur without warning," Phivolcs said.

Kanlaon Volcano, one of the six most active volcanoes in the country, is located 36 kilometers southeast of Bacolod City.

The volcano, which rises to 2,435 meters above sea level, has had at least 22 historical episodes since 1866. — Felix de los Santos