LEGAZPI CITY — Ash fell and covered more villages than last week in Juban town in Sorsogon province after another phreatic eruption by Mount Bulusan early morning Sunday, the municipal disaster risk reduction and management officer (MDRRMO) said Sunday.
Arian Aguallo, information officer of MDRRMO in Juban, said there were traces of ash even at the compound of the local government unit at Barangay (village) North Poblacion.
“Last Sunday (June 5), the ash fall did not reach this area. It concentrated in villages of Puting Sapa and Buraburan,” Arguallo said.
He said based on the initial report, the heavily affected areas were villages of Añog, Puting Sapa, Bacolod, Buraburan, Catanusan, Calateo, Rangas, Sipaya and Aroroy.
Jonnel Bolaño, a resident of Sitio (sub-village) Dayhag of Barangay (village) Puting Sapa, said they already prepared their bags and were just waiting for the vehicles of the local government for evacuation.
He said his family and neighbors were awake and listening to the loud and continuous sound from the volcano.
“It was loud, like a thunder, and we heard sound as if it was raining. That was ash fall pouring as thick as sand with the smell of sulfur,” he said.
There were also reports of ash fall in villages of Maalo, Cogon and South Poblacion of Juban town and other areas of Irosin and Casiguran.
Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said the volcano spewed ash in another phreatic eruption at around 3:37 a.m. that lasted for 18 minutes.
Phivolcs raised the status of the volcano to alert level 1 after it spewed steam-rich gray plumes that rose about a kilometer on June 5.
The first phreatic eruption blanketed several villages with ash including the villages of Puting Sapa, Buraburan, Añog, Bacolod, Calmayon, Catanusan and Guruyan in Juban town and the villages of Bolos, Cogon, Monbon, Tinampo and Gulang Gulang in Irosin town.
READ: After Mt. Bulusan’s phreatic eruption, nearby residents told to prepare for possible evacuation