Mayon’s sulfur dioxide emission and rockfall events increase, says Phivolcs
LIVING WITH A RESTIVE VOLCANO Life goes on for many Albayanos, like this family and its friends, who find time to hold a birthday celebration at a resort in Daraga town on June 23, 2023, against the backdrop of a lava-spewing Mayon Volcano. —PHOTO CONTRIBUTED BY ROSEMARIE LOMA
MANILA, Philippines — The sulfur dioxide emission and rockfall events in Mayon Volcano, which remains under Alert Level 3, have risen over the last 24 hours, according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs).
Phivolcs said in its 5 a.m. Thursday advisory that Mayon discharged 1,621 tons of sulfur dioxide and 243 rockfalls on July 5, down from 1,170 and 232 the day before.
It reported that no volcanic earthquakes were monitored. Dome-collapse pyroclastic density current events (PDCs) surged from five to seven.
Phivolcs said that Mayon continues its “intensified unrest or magmatic unrest,” and its very slow effusion of lava flow remains at 2.8 kilometers (km) along Mi-isi Gully and 1.3 km along Bonga Gully. The other lava flows on both gullies stayed at 3.3 km and 4 km along Basud Gully.
Mayon Volcano residents were warned that rockfalls, landslides, avalanches, ballistic fragments, lava flows, and moderate-sized explosions might occur within the area.
As of July 6, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said Mayon’s continuous volcanic activity had affected 37,953 individuals or 9,779 families from 26 barangays within the Bicol Region and displaced 20,148 residents in 28 evacuation centers.
