Mayon spews lava, ash anew; lahar alert still up

LEGAZPI CITY , Philippines — Lava ejection that lasted for 28 seconds and accompanied by a rumbling sound as well as an ashing event have been monitored in Mayon Volcano.

“The lava ejection was not yet a lava fountaining event that was displayed in past Mayon eruptions. But this ejection means that fresh magma is being actively pushed out of the volcano,” Paul Alanis, resident volcanologist at the Lignon Hill Observatory in this city, said yesterday.

Ashfall was reportedly monitored in Guinobatan town on Friday night.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said 22 low-frequency volcanic quakes and four pyroclastic density currents were also recorded in the past 24 hours.

Up to 175 rockfall events and sulfur dioxide emissions of 1,758 tons were monitored.

Alanis said the lahar warning issued due to Tropical Depression Egay is still up.

Egay was forecast to bring prolonged and heavy rain, which Phivolcs said may trigger lahar flows along major channels draining the edifice of the volcano.

Phivolcs said lahars may threaten communities along the middle and lower slopes and downstream of these channels ”with inundation, burial and wash away.”