Zambales to build monitoring center after ‘weak explosion’ on Mt. Pinatubo

Aeta families living near Mt. Pinatubo on the side of Botolan town in Zambales province have not seen any indication of an imminent eruption after the “weak explosion” caused by a steam blast that occurred on Nov. 30 on the volcano. (Photo by Joanna Rose Aglibot)

SAN ANTONIO, Zambales—Local authorities will establish a monitoring center in Botolan town after the “weak explosion” observed Nov. 30 on Mt. Pinatubo.

In an advisory Friday, the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) said the Mt. Pinatubo Monitoring Center would be built at Camp Kainomayan in Botolan, about 32 kilometers from the Zambales side of the volcano.

Establishing the center is among the measures the provincial government will take in response to the explosion that the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) described as “phreatic eruption” or steam blast.

But Phivolcs and other experts said the explosion is not an indication of Pinatubo’s violent eruption similar to what happened on June 15, 1991.

Aside from the monitoring center, the province also formed the Mt. Pinatubo Task Force composed of representatives from concerned agencies, including the PDRRMO, police, Army, and Department of the Interior and Local Government.

The task force will have a command center that will monitor activities on the volcano for 24 hours.

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