No eruption from Mayon as ‘blood moon’ passes over

MANILA, Philippines – Amid fears raised that Wednesday night’s lunar eclipse may trigger an eruption by Mayon Volcano, no such thing happened. Instead the country and the rest of the world were treated to a night spectacle where the moon turned “blood red” as the earth’s shadow began to pass over it.

In its Thursday bulletin, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said that Mayon was still under Alert Level 3 and the full lunar eclipse that happened Wednesday evening did not have an effect on its behavior.

Phivolcs said there were no studies indicating that the phases of the moon and its gravitational pull would have an impact on volcanic behavior.

Phivolcs added that Mayon, which has fallen into a lull for the past weeks, posted five rockfall events between 8 a.m. Wednesday and 8 a.m. Thursday.

Mayon also emitted 387 tons per day of sulfur dioxide within the same period.

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