Disaster execs prepare evacuation plan as Mount Mayon remains restive

Mayon Volcano, October 8, 2022 | Photo: Ed Lustan

LIGAO CITY, Albay, Philippines — The Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (RDRRMC) in Bicol and the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) Region 5 have set the preparedness plan in case there would be an escalation in the alert level status of Mount Mayon in Albay in the succeeding days.

OCD Bicol director Claudio Yucot said they conducted the pre-disaster risk assessment to have a smooth execution in evacuating the affected residents.

“This response operations is a team effort, this is a ‘bayanihan.’ We should cooperate for the success of the operation,” Yucot said.

“Let’s also pray that Mount Mayon will not erupt, but it is an advantage that we are prepared, particularly if alert level 3 will be raised,” he said.

Cedric Daep, chief of Albay Public Safety and Emergency Management Office (APSEMO), said if alert level 3 is raised, human and livestock population shall be evacuated, especially those communities living in the 8 km extended danger zone (EDZ).

“There is an on-going updating of population at risk at the 6 km permanent danger zone (PDZ) and the 8km extended danger zone (EDZ),” Daep said at the meeting Wednesday.

Dr. Paul Karson Alanis, a resident volcanologist at Mayon Observatory of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs), said that from Sept. 26 to Oct. 9, they noted a continuous “inflammation” of the lava dome and faint crater glow for the past few days.

On Oct. 7, Phivolcs raised alert level 2 over Mayon Volcano due to its increasing unrest, over a month since alert level 1 was hoisted over the volcano on Aug. 21 after it showed “abnormal” activities.

Mayon, one of the country’s active volcanoes, had its last steam-driven or phreatic eruption in January 2018.

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Mayon activity subsides but Alert Level 2 remains

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