AFP FILE PHOTO
LEGAZPI CITY, Philippines — Mayon continued to quiet down on Sunday but officials were not letting their guard down as the volcano could still erupt at any time.
The Philippine Institute of Seismology and Volcanology (Phivolcs), in its latest bulletin, said its seismic network recorded only four volcanic earthquakes and eight rockfall events over the last 24 hours.
This was a big drop compared to Friday’s 22 volcanic quakes and 70 rockfall events. On Thursday, there were 142 quakes and 251 rockfall incidents.
However, the emission of sulfur dioxide increased at an average of 1,290 tons per day compared to 757 tons per day recorded on Sept. 17.
There was also no crater grow observed on Saturday night, the bulletin said.
Eduardo Laguerta, Phivolcs resident volcanologist based in this city, earlier said the decrease in activity only meant the rise in magma appeared to have stopped temporarily because the volcano might just be preparing for a possible eruption as the pressure inside increased.
Phivolcs raised alert level 3 over Mayon on Sept. 15, indicating an eruption could happen within weeks.
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