12,000 evacuated amid increasing Mayon rockfall, quakes

Mount Mayon. AFP FILE PHOTO

LEGAZPI CITY – Albay Governor Joey Salceda on Tuesday ordered the evacuation of up to 12,000 residents in three cities and three towns in Albay after alert level three was raised over Mayon Volcano.

Salceda ordered the forced evacuation in the cities of Legazpi, Tabaco and Ligao and the towns of Malilipot, Sto Domingo, Camalig and Daraga.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismolgy (Phivolcs) raised the alert status of Mayon Volcano to alert level 3 at 10 p.m.on Monday.

Ed Laguerta, resident volcanologist based at Phivolcs observatory station in Lignon Hill here, said they recorded 39 rockfall events and 32 volcanic quakes around Mayon from 5 p.m. until 9 p.m. Monday.  Crater glow was also observed with incandescent materials flowing on the slopes.

With the continuous unrest of Mayon, Phivolcs is strictly imposing the six-kilometer Permanent Danger Zone and the seven to eight-km Extended Danger Zone.

In Guinobatan town, Mayor Ann Gemma Ongjoco, ordered the forced evacuation of 20 families Sitio (sub-village) Basiao Baray Muladbucad Grande to an elementary school in the village.
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