Mount Bulusan in Sorsogon rumbles, spews ash; Alert Level 1 raised
Mount Bulusan / Bulusan Volcano in Sorsogon (file photo)
LEGAZPI CITY – Bulusan Volcano in Sorsogon province spewed ash in a phreatic eruption on Sunday morning, according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs).
“This is to notify the public and concerned authorities of an ongoing phreatic eruption at Bulusan Volcano,” Phivolcs confirmed in a social media post.
“Alert Level 1 status is now raised over Bulusan Volcano, which means that it is currently in an abnormal condition,” Phivolcs said on its website.
This is to notify the public and concerned authorities of an ongoing phreatic eruption at Bulusan Volcano. Details to follow.
— PHIVOLCS-DOST (@phivolcs_dost) June 5, 2022
The phreatic eruption started at 10:37 a.m. and lasted for about 17 minutes.
“The event was poorly visible through cloud cover over the edifice although a steam-rich grey plume at least 1 kilometer tall was observed from Juban, Sorsogon and was subsequently observed to drift west,” Phivolcs noted.
Ashfall hits Juban, Casiguran, Irosin villages
Some villages in the towns of Juban, Casiguran and Irosin in Sorsogon were affected by ashfall following the phreatic eruption.
Bernadette Tabing, disaster risk reduction and management (DRRM) coordinator of the Department of Education (DepEd) in Juban town, said the villages of Buraburan, Sangkayon, Putingsapa, Añog, Bacolod, Catanusan and Guruyan experienced light to heavy ashfall.
Tabing said some motorists and light vehicles traveling through the two towns’ roads had to stop due to minimal to zero visibility caused by the thick ash.
Joseph John Perez, DRRM coordinator of DepEd – Sorsogon, said in Irosin town, the villages of Bolos, Gulang-Gulang and Monbon were also affected by the ashfall.
Perez said they are preparing the schools in the towns of Juban, Irosin, Casiguran and Bulusan as possible evacuation centers.
Warning signs
Based on ground deformation data from continuous global positioning system (GPS) monitoring, the Bulusan edifice has been inflated since February last year.Electronic tilt monitoring meanwhile showed a “sudden but isolated inflation of the southeast lower slopes only since April 2022.”
“These parameters indicate that volcanic processes are underway beneath the edifice that are likely caused by shallow hydrothermal activity,” said Phivolcs.“Before the eruption, the Bulusan Volcano Network recorded 77 volcanic earthquakes in the past 24-hour observation period,” Phivolcs said.
Entry into the four-kilometer radius permanent danger zone is prohibited, Phivolcs stressed.
Mt. Bulusan is about 70 kilometers southeast of another active volcano, Mayon Volcano, in Albay province.
NDRRMC(11:10 AM,05Jun22) Nagaganap ang steam-driven o phreatic na pagputok sa Bulkang Bulusan na nagsimula kaninang 10:30AM. Sumunod sa abiso ng awtoridad. #VolcanoPH
Source: @phivolcs_dost pic.twitter.com/mMITDdi3HN
— NDRRMC (@NDRRMC_OpCen) June 5, 2022
On August 18, 2021, Phivolcs downgraded the alert level on Bulusan Volcano from Alert Level 1 to Alert Level 0 (Normal) after a general decline in monitoring parameters.
