LEGAZPI CITY?Albay health officials on Sunday started distributing some 50,000 face masks to villagers in areas affected by ash fall from Mount Mayon as authorities raised the alert level around the volcano.

Volcanologists warned of a possible hazardous eruption within days and extended a ?no-go zone? up to 10 kilometers.

Mayon, the most active of 22 volcanoes in the country, has been spewing ash and burning mud and rocks since Monday.

?We raised the alert level to 4 ? meaning an eruption is within days,? chief volcanologist Renato Solidum said after aerial inspection and other observations of the volcano showed increased activity in the past 24 hours.

Level 4 indicates an eruption is imminent and the maximum alert level of 5 means an eruption is under way, he said.

From 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday, 463 volcanic earthquakes were recorded, characteristic of a very heightened activity, according to resident volcanologist Eduardo Laguerta.

Laguerta said Mayon was manifesting signs of a strombolian eruption, characterized by lava fountains from the crater, reaching several kilometers up, and ash fall.

?This nearing explosive eruption is no longer comparable to the protracted type in 2006 eruption with only lava oozing at the crater down to Mabinit, Legazpi City, 6 kilometers from the crater,? Solidum said at a press briefing here Sunday afternoon.

He said data indicated that the volcano would expel big boulders.

Earlier, the past 24-hour observation period showed that lava flow reached 4.5 km down the slope along the Bonga-Buyuan Gully.

Sulfur dioxide emission increased from 2,034 tons per day to 7,024 tons per day during the same observation period.

Expanded no-go zone

More than 40,000 people?about 85 percent of the population in the area?have already been moved to temporary shelters, where food and water stations have been set up.

Gov. Joey Salceda said he had ordered the deployment of more troops around the expanded no-go zone to forcibly evacuate more people and to stop others who wanted to return to their homes and farms.

?We?re preparing to evacuate more people before the actual big eruption,? Salceda told reporters.

Based on the population at risk to ash fall, Oas town will get 2,900 face masks; Libon, 3,100; Polangui, 3,300; Daraga, 4,200; Ligao City, 4,800; Guinobatan, 4,800; Camalig, 3,300; Tabaco City, 5,000; Malilipot, 1,500; Sto. Domingo, 1,500; Malinao, 2,000; Tiwi, 2,000, and Legazpi, 5,000.

Workers will get 1,500 face masks and the rest are reserves.

Provincial health officer Luis Mendoza said the face masks were sent by the Department of Health to the province.

Medicines

Mendoza assured the public that there were enough medicines with the purchase of P1.8 million worth of supplies. Other health supplies were scheduled to be delivered on Sunday.

?The Unicef is also sending medicines through the DoH Bicol regional office like amoxycillin, ferric chloride, new form oral rehydration salts and paracetamol, among other medicines,? Mendoza said.

Clean water

Salceda said clean water and sanitation were key to disease control. ?Thus, we have more-than-usual effort on access to water and sanitary toilets.?

He said it would have been ideal if evacuation was done in an AECID facility as in Guinobatan because it has sufficient water supply, faucets, water tanks and toilets (separate for male, female, disabled).

?But we only have three of these in Camalig, Daraga and Guinobatan and with limited capacity vis-à-vis the scale of the evacuation,? Salceda said.

AECID stands for Agencia Española de Cooperacion Internacional Para El Desarollo.

Salceda also said the following had been done:

? Maintaining normal water supply at evacuation centers.

? Repairing all faucets.

? Installing 24 portalets.

? Provision of four-tank lorries for water distribution in case of disruption.

? Unicef?s provision of 1,000 family water kits and 1,000 community water kits.

? Putting up of 24 drums for bathing/washing water.

? Readying of water purifying machine, which has a capacity of 30,000 liters per hour, with a water and sanitation team to operate it.

Albay has requested 5,000 water jugs from Social Welfare Secretary Esperanza Cabral.

Based on the daily inspection of evacuation centers, the Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council saw the need for bed mats and blankets, given the cool weather.

Salceda has asked for 5,000 more mats and 5,000 blankets. Cabral has pre-positioned 1,700 blankets at the Philippine Navy Southern Luzon and 1,400 mats.

Psychosocial needs

The governor has asked a physician to assemble a team from the Department of Health and the Department of Social Welfare and Development to take care of the psychosocial needs of the evacuees.

Ideas include a nightly movie showing, feeding program, parlor games, sports program and arts like painting, poetry reading, poster making and singing contest.

Guidance counseling, particularly for spouses, is one of the most important intervention measures, Salceda said. With a report from Reuters