Lava flow seen to breach Mayon danger zone

LEGAZPI CITY, Philippines — Lava and pyroclastic materials emitted by Mayon Volcano have flowed near the boundary of the six-kilometer permanent danger zone and could damage the vegetation and plantations in the area, officials said yesterday.

Lava flow advanced to 900 meters in Basud gully in Sto. Domingo town, 3.3 kilometers in Miisi in Daraga and 4.5 kilometers in Bonga in Legazpi City, according to Ed Laguerta, resident volcanologist of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs).

He said the Bonga gully has coconut and vegetable plantations that could be hit by lava and pyroclastic materials.

“This happened during the  2008-2009 eruption of Mayon, wherein that lava flow stretched as far as seven kilometers from the crater through a slope facing Legazpi City, now known as the lava wall in Barangay Mabinit,” Laguerta said.

Pyroclastic flows also reached up to 4.2 kilometers in the Basud gully, 4.5 kilometers in Bonga and 4.6 kilometers in Miisi gully.

Laguerta said these lava and pyroclastic flows could reach the boundary of the danger zone.