Philvocs warns of a possible Mayon eruption
Posted on July 10th, 2009
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Philvocs) have warned on Saturday, resident of Albay province about a “possible eruption†of Mt. Mayon. They issued the warning after they observed upward movement of magma.
According to Philvocs Director Renato Solidum, recent activities at the Mayon volcano showed an intensified crater glow, low frequency volcanic eruption, and ground uplift, which all points to a possible eruption. They raised the alert status on Mayon from low-lever unrest (1) to moderate unrest (2) after observing the intensified glow at the crater.
Because of this developments, residents close to 7,000 (or 1,675 families), who all live around slopes of the volcano are already being prepared for evacuation once Philvocs raise the alert status to level 3. The 7,000 residents, according to Albay Gov. Joey Salceda, were the only initial target of evacuation in the cities of Legazpi, Tabaco and Ligao and the towns of Guinobatan, Camalig, Daraga, Sto. Domingo and Malilipot once the alert level is raised.
Vehicles already standing by, as confirmed by Apsemo director Cedric Daep, should a mass evacuation of residents be necessary once the abnormalities of Mayon intensifies. Salceda directed Apsemo to start updating the population at risk and critical resources data of cities and towns around the volcano to determining the number of people to be placed in safer grounds.
City and town disaster councils around the volcano were also directed to be alert and be on a 24-hour watch, review their respective contingency plans, as well as evaluate their communications and warning capacities.
Philvocs said that since last month, they already have noted an increase in the current activities of the Mayon Volcano. The number of recorded low-frequency volcanic earthquakes also rose to a higher level. This signified movement of magma beneath the volcano edifice at shallow depth.
