Phivolcs mulls higher alert level at Kanlaon

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga — The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) is studying the possibility of raising the alert level at Kanlaon Volcano which continues to spew ashes as high as 1,000 meters above its crater.

In a phone interview with The STAR, Phivolcs volcanologist Jaime Sincioco, a member of a five-man team of scientists now monitoring Kanlaon, said farmers in three sitios within the volcano’s four-kilometer radius have been told to move out.

Alert level 1, which indicates abnormal volcanic activity, was earlier imposed in the area amid continuing "phreatic explosions" since last Jan. 21.

The volcano, which is about 2,400 meters above sea level, is located between Kanlaon City in Negros Oriental and Las Castellana town in Negros Occidental.

The other day, Phivolcs, in a bulletin, said more ash emissions, including one as high as 700 meters, were observed at Kanlaon’s crater at about 11 a.m.

Phreatic explosions are hydrothermal occurrences resulting from the invasion of underground water into hot rocks under the surface of the crater floor, Sincioco said.

He said more seismic instruments have been installed around the volcano. "We are collecting ash for analysis to find out whether there are juvenile materials that could indicate magma involvement in the volcanic activity," he said.

He also noted that most of Kanlaon’s past abnormalities were phreatic in nature, except in 1902 when the volcano erupted with magma. — Ding Cervantes