Mayon erupts, Albay orders preemptive evac

Naga City ­— The provincial government ordered the mandatory preemptive evacuation of residents inside the six-kilometer permanent danger zone (PDZ) after Mayon Volcano had a “moderately explosive eruption” on Friday that dusted several areas with ashfall.

Albay Public Safety and Emergency Management Office (APSEMO) chief Bobby Cristobal said the local governments of Camalig and Malilipot towns and Tabaco City began moving residents out of the zone as a precaution, immediately after the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) raised the alert status from Level 2 (decreased unrest) to Level 3 (increased tendency towards a hazardous eruption) around noon.

Cristobal told reporters the province expects to shelter about 1,133 families from the eight towns and cities around the volcano.

The volcano sent up a 3,000-meter ash plume from its summit crater at around 11:53 a.m., he said. Ashfall was reported in Camalig, Guinobatan, and the upland area of Legazpi City.

As of 2 p.m., the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) Bicol said 205 families had been evacuated in Camalig and 152 in Tabaco City.

Phivolcs said Mayon had entered “a new phase of magmatic eruption, with increased chances of lava flows and hazardous PDCs (pyroclastic density currents), or ‘uson’ in the local dialect, affecting the upper to middle slopes of the volcano in the immediate days to weeks.”

The agency recommended evacuating residents within the six-kilometer PDZ because of the threat of pyroclastic density currents, lava flows, rockfalls, lahars and sediment-laden streamflows in channels draining the volcano.

It also urged civil aviation authorities to warn pilots away from the summit, since ash from a sudden eruption can endanger aircraft.

Mayon, the country’s most active stratovolcano, is known for its near-perfect cone and violent history. It has erupted more than 50 times since its first recorded eruption in 1616.

Its deadliest eruption occurred on 1 February 1814, when pyroclastic flows and volcanic material buried the Cagsawa settlement in what is now Barangay Busay, Daraga. An estimated 1,200 to 2,000 people were killed.

Classes suspended

Albay Gov. Noel Rosal suspended classes at all levels in public and private schools.

In Guinobatan, the town hardest hit by ashfall, the Bureau of Fire Protection and the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office conducted flushing operations to wash ash off buildings and surfaces.

The Albay Provincial Health Office delivered 4,000 surgical masks to Camalig and Guinobatan for distribution to residents.

APSEMO barred all human activity inside the six-km PDZ, including mountain climbing, orchid picking, and vegetable harvesting. All-terrain vehicle rides, a major tourist draw, are limited to the Cagsawa Ruins area, while the Mayon Skyline is closed until further notice. Aircraft are barred from flying directly over the volcano.