Phivolcs lowers alert level on Mayon

Children walk to school as classes continue in Daraga town in Albay province in this file photo. INQUIRER FILE

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) on Tuesday morning lowered to Alert Level 3 the warning on Mount Mayon as the agency noted a general decline in eruptive activity on the volcano.

“Mayon Volcano’s condition in the past week has been characterized by a general decline in unrest,” a Phivolcs bulletin released at 8 a.m. said.

Volcano watchers monitored moderate seismicity and degassing, deflation of the edifice and a decrease in eruptive activity at the summit crater.

Alert Level 3 means Mayon has a decreased tendency towards hazardous eruption, compared to Alert Level 4, which warns that a hazardous eruption was imminent.

Despite the lowering of the alert, the Phivolcs said residents and people should still be “strictly prohibited” from the six-kilometer permanent danger zone and the seven-kilometer-radius extended danger zone.

People living near these danger areas were advised to observe precautions associated with rockfalls, pyroclastic density currents and ashfall. /cbb