Ash fall from Mayon reaches Camarines Sur’s Rinconada district

Mt. Mayon spews column of ash into the sky about 10 kilometers in height around 12: 45 p.m., raising its alert level from 3 to 4 on Monday. PHOTO/ Michael Jaucian, Inquirer Southern Luzon

LEGAZPI CITY – Classes will remain suspended “until lifted by a subsequent memorandum” in six towns and one city in Camarines Sur affected by the ash fall from Mayon Volcano Monday, according to Governor Miguel Luis Villafuerte.

In a report from Camarines Sur’s Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, 175 villages in the fifth district (Rinconada district) and one village in Minalabac town were affected by the ash fall.

All villages in Balatan and Nabua were affected by the ash fall. Fifteen villages in Bato, 17 villages in Iriga City, four in Bula, 30 in Baao, and 11 in Buhi recorded ash fall from Mayon’s eruption that emitted 10-kilometer high ash columns at 12:45 p.m.

The eruption prompted the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) to raise the alert status of the volcano from Alert Level 3 (increased tendency to hazardous eruption) to Alert Level 4 (hazardous eruption imminent).

All flights to and from Naga City were canceled on Monday.