Mayon Volcano (MARK ALVIC ESPLANA / file photo)
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) on Sunday recorded a decrease in Mayon Volcano’s earthquakes, while its rockfall events rose over the last 24 hours.
In its 5 a.m. bulletin, Phivolcs said that from 248 volcanic earthquakes the day before, 185 were recorded recently, with a lava ejection that lasted for about 35 seconds, while the number of volcanic tremor events dipped from 124 to 92
On the other hand, rockfall events increased from 112 recorded on August 5 to 270 recorded on August 6.
Phivolcs likewise reported that sulfur dioxide emissions rose from 1,602 metric tons to 2,379 metric tons.
Phivolcs added that Mayon’s “very slow” effusion of lava flow stayed at 2.8 kilometers (km) along Mi-isi Gully, reached 3.4 km along Bonga Gully, and 600 meters along Basud Gully, while the lava dome collapse on all gullies extended to 4 kilometers from the crater.
It warned residents that rockfalls, landslides, avalanches, ballistic fragments, lava flows, and moderate-sized explosions might occur in areas near Mayon, which remains under Alert Level 3 due to “high level of unrest and possible hazardous eruption within weeks or even days.”
As of August 6, Mayon’s unrest has affected 38,396 individuals, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council reported.