Officials to evacuate 1,020 persons within Mt. Bulusan’s 4-km danger zone

IROSIN, Sorsogon—-Civil Defense officials in Bicol said they expect to complete the forced evacuation of 1,020 persons or 216 families in Barangay (village) Cogon in Irosin, Sorsogon, on Friday that may be threatened by lahar due to rains spawned by typhoon ‘‘Dodong’’.

Rachelle Miranda, public information officer of the Office of Civil Defense (OCD)-Bicol, said this is the entire population of Barangay Cogon, which is within the 4-kilometer Permanent Danger Zone (PDZ) of Mount Bulusan.

A steam-driven (phreatic) explosion on Bulusan Volcano on Wednesday prompted the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) to raise the volcano’s alert level from zero (normal) to one (abnormal). Phivolcs also reiterated that the 4-km PDZ should be off limits to human activity.

Ibarra Escandor, operations officer of the Irosin Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, said 320 persons deemed to be the “vulnerable population” in the Barangay Cogon were first evacuated.

He said two Army trucks and two pick up vehicles were used to evacuate the children, pregnant women, senior citizens and persons with disabilities from seven sub-villages to Gallanosa National High School.

Phivolcs resident volcanologist Eduardo Laguerta, in an interview, said typhoon Dodong would not have any direct effect on the volcano except for the lahar flow which might be triggered by heavy rains.

He said magma was not moving inside the volcano for lava to flow. “Only phreatic (steam-driven) explosion is expected of the volcano,” he said. The scheduled aerial survey on Mt. Bulusan was also postponed to an indefinite date because of typhoon Dodong.

Mount Bulusan stayed calm on Friday after ejecting ash plumes on Wednesday night. In its 8 a.m. bulletin (Friday) Phivolcs said
it did not detect any volcanic quake but explained the volcano was gathering steam and remained in a restive mode.

Phivolcs data showed 60 villages in the Sorsogon towns of Barcelona, Bulusan, Casiguran, Gubat, Irosin and Juban surround Mt. Bulusan, which towers 1,559 meters above sea level. With a report from Juan Escandor Jr.