Kanlaon erupts, sends ash plume 6 kms high

Mount Kanlaon on Negros Island generated a moderately explosive eruption at 12:46 p.m. Saturday, sending an ash plume 5 to 6 kilometers above the summit crater and prompting warnings against ashfall.

“We had a moderately explosive eruption in Kanlaon at 12:46 p.m. which lasted two minutes based on a seismic signal, which generated a 5,000- to 6,000-meter plume drifting north-northeast,” Kanlaon Volcano Observatory resident volcanologist Mari-Andylene Quintia told the DAILY TRIBUNE in a Viber interview.

“Ongoing ash emission is still being observed,” she added Saturday afternoon.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) maintained Alert Level 2 over Kanlaon, indicating increasing volcanic unrest.

In an advisory, Phivolcs said the eruption began shortly before 12:30 p.m. and ended at 12:48 p.m.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council urged residents of Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental to take precautions against ashfall following the eruption on 10 October.

Several local government units around the volcano also urged residents to remain alert and observe safety measures amid the volcanic activity.

The public was advised to stay away from the six-kilometer Permanent Danger Zone and other restricted areas.