Erupting Philippine volcano poses 'real threat'

Villagers on the slopes of Mayon volcano in Albay province, following a flash flood yesterday. Mayon, the most active of the Philippines' 22 volcanoes, has been generating clouds of superheated ash and bursts of lava for nearly two weeks. Experts hav
Villagers on the slopes of Mayon volcano in Albay province, following a flash flood yesterday. Mayon, the most active of the Philippines' 22 volcanoes, has been generating clouds of superheated ash and bursts of lava for nearly two weeks. Experts have warned of more eruptions, with heavy rain making the situation more dangerous for people living in the area. PHOTO: EPA-EFE

The Philippine authorities yesterday warned of a "real threat", as they urged communities living near Mayon volcano, south of the capital Manila, to be ready to evacuate.

The 2,460m-tall volcano, popular for its symmetry and classic cone, has been generating giant cauliflower clouds of superheated ash rising 4.8km in height, and bursts of fireworks-like lava for nearly two weeks. Experts have warned of more eruptions.

"We have fresh deposits on the slope. With the rain, it's really a dangerous combination for the communities," said Ms Mariton Bornas, chief of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology's (Phivolcs) volcano monitoring and eruption prediction division.

She said lahar - mud mixed with ash - can carry huge boulders down the volcano's slopes. "It's very dangerous not only because it can bury communities, wash away people and everything in its path, but also because of impact," said Ms Bornas.

In a bulletin, Phivolcs said heavy rainfall could push some 9 million cubic m of fragments of rocks and roughly 1.5 million cubic m of ash down Mayon's slopes.

Referring to the amount of magma the volcano has so far spewed out, Phivolcs director Renato Solidum said: "We have an idea of how much. It's only roughly 30 per cent. We still have a significant amount within the volcano, as it is still inflated."

A level four alert, a notch below the highest, remains enforced around Mayon in Albay province, 490km south of Manila.

More than 81,000 have fled to about 70 temporary shelters, and relief officials are preparing for a three-month emergency period. The authorities have urged those living near the volcano to remain indoors and wear masks.

President Rodrigo Duterte yesterday said he would fly to Albay tomorrow to check on the evacuees.

Mayon, the most active of the country's 22 volcanoes, has rumbled 50 times in the past 500 years.

Its eruption is the latest in a spate of quakes and eruptions that has sparked talk of an uptick in activity around the Pacific Ring of Fire, where tectonic plates collide.

On Tuesday, Japan's Mount Kusatsu-Shirane in Gunma prefecture erupted unexpectedly, spewing rocks up to 1m in diameter and triggering an avalanche nearby that killed one member of the Ground Self-Defence Force. Eleven others were injured.

The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) yesterday warned that another eruption of a similar scale to that which occurred at the mountain's Motoshirane peak could still occur.

The JMA has kept the volcano's alert level at three out of five. Skiers have been barred from entering an area within a 2km radius of the volcano's crater, although the nearby Kusatsu International Ski Resort yesterday reopened all slopes outside the affected area. The crater at Motoshirane had been dormant for 3,000 years.

Meanwhile lingering fears remain over Bali's Mount Agung volcano, which began spewing ash last November, causing mass evacuations and flight disruptions.

Its last significant eruption, however, was on Jan 15 when it spewed volcanic ash 2,000m to 2,500m high, blowing towards the north-east, in the opposite direction of the airport. An exclusion zone of within 6km of the volcano remains in place.

• With additional reporting by Walter Sim and Wahyudi Soeriaatmadja

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Sunday Times on January 28, 2018, with the headline Erupting Philippine volcano poses 'real threat'. Subscribe