Mayon Volcano is one of the most active volcanos on the Earth. It is located in the Philippines and is one of the vulcanos that erupts frequently. Four days ago, Renato Solidum, director of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, raised Level 3 alert over Mayon Vulcano, only to raise it again to Level 4 Monday afternoon (local time) as Mayon Volcano may explosively erupt anytime.
Experts warn about hazardous explosions
Mayon Volcano already started to spit lava and ashes but an explosive eruption is possible in hours or days, according to Renato Solidum. The volcano started its activity on Thursday when Solidum stated that the alert is raised on Level 3 which means that magma and materials are coming out of the volcano but not explosively.
However, today, Solidum raised again the alert to Level 4 which means that an explosive eruption can occur within hours or days.
Evacuations have already started
Around 30,000 people living in the areas close to the volcano have been evacuated right after the volcano eruption produced an ash column high of 10 kilometers.
The Governor of Albay, Al Francis Bichara said that ‘this kind of eruption, it will take about weeks, so we have to sustain the operations in the evacuation centers’. ‘We need to use the calamity funds,’ he concluded.
Mayon Volcano is erupting frequently
Mayon Volcano is erupting almost every year since 2006. And speaking of which, 2006 was a tragic year for more than 1,200 people who were living near the volcano and died due to a rare post-eruption event.
The rainfall accompanying Typhoon Durian in 2006 produced lahars from the volcano ash and rocks killing the 1,200 people. Officials considered that the real number of victims was even higher supposing that many people were literally buried under the lahars.
Hopefully, this year alert level over Mayon Volcano will not get higher and even if it does, let’s hope there won’t be any human casualties.
