On the 20th day: Mayon’s slow effusion of lava still continues
VOLCANO WATCH Albay residents and visitors continue monitoring the situation on Mayon Volcano, two weeks since its alert level was raised to 3 due to its increased activity. —MICHAEL B. JAUCIAN
MANILA, Philippines — The very slow effusion of lava from Mayon Volcano’s summit crater has continued on its 20th day according to Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs).
Senior Science Specialist Rudy Lacson Jr. confirmed this to INQUIRER.net in a phone interview on Saturday.
In its bulletin issued 8 a.m., Phivolcs said the volcano, in the last 24 hours, continued to feed lava flows extending to approximate lengths of 2,230 meters and 1,300 meters along the Misi and Bonga gullies respectively.
Apart from this, other indicators of Mayon’s high level of unrest were also recorded. State seismologists said 17 dome-collapse pyroclastic density currents, 254 rockfall events, 65 weak volcanic earthquakes, and continuous emission of sulfur dioxide averaging to at least 1,002 metric tons were observed.
Phivolcs then explained that the “increased activity from Mayon’s summit crater” on Friday was dominated by the generation of dome-collapse pyroclastic density currents on the Basud Gully on the eastern slope.
“The largest one of these events occurred at 1:01 p.m. and lasted for eight minutes. Four visible pyroclastic density currents between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. that lasted for approximately four minutes each traveled three to four kilometers downslope of the Basud Gully. Ashfall was recorded to have fallen on Tabaco City,” it said.
With these developments, Alert Level 3 is maintained over Mayon, which means that a hazardous eruption within weeks or even days is still possible.
“Heavy rainfall could generate channel-confined lahars and sediment-laden streamflows in channels where pyroclastic density current deposits were emplaced,” Phivolcs warned.
