Expert: Mayon ‘getting fatter’

VERONICA Perez, 82, a survivor of the 1993 Mayon eruption, is restless these days as she awaits news about the volcano’s latest rumblings. MARK ALVIC ESPLANA/ INQUIRER SOUTHERN LUZON

LEGAZPI CITY—Mayon Volcano continued to inflate, which means magma is still moving upward, indicating an imminent eruption, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said.

Eduardo Laguerta, resident volcanologist at Phivolcs’ Lignon Hill Observatory here, said the geodetic survey made on September 30 showed the volcano had inflated by 3 millimeters.

It was 0.63 mm based on measurements gathered on September 23-25, Paul Karson Alanis, science research specialist, said in an interview.

“This means the volcano is continuously enlarging,” Alanis said. “Like in humans, it is getting fatter.”

On Monday, Phivolcs Director Renato Solidum estimated that the volume of magma moving up the summit of the volcano to be 30 million cubic meters or equivalent to 3 million truckloads of rocks.

Phivolcs on Wednesday failed to measure the sulfur dioxide emission as rain clouds were covering the summit. But on September 30, it placed the volume of sulfur dioxide emission at 1,421 tons compared with 1,265 tons on September 27.

The higher gas emission level “makes the magma less dense, which may allow the magma to continue its upward journey that may lead to explosion,” Laguerta said.

The Phivolcs bulletin on Thursday said only three rock fall events were recorded during the past 24-hour observation period, another sign that magma is slowly moving upward.

Zero-casualty goal

Albay Gov. Joey Salceda disputed reports that a casualty had been reported due to the restiveness of Mayon.

Salceda, in a press briefing on Thursday, said the death of Josefina Gravito, 62, of Lidong, Sto. Domingo, was not related to Mayon. He said the municipal government started evacuating residents in endangered villages, including Lidong, only on September 19, or days after Gravito was reported missing.

Salceda said the zero-casualty goal of Albay “is not just a number, it is a goal.”

“It actually refers to a summation of commitments of a community to ensure that even during a calamity, no one is left behind to fall by the wayside due to poverty and even to stubbornness,” he said.

“It means identifying all those who can be impacted, move them out of harm’s way and give them care till the hazard passes away.”