Phivolcs warns public anew to refrain from entering danger zone of Mayon
Published Feb 16, 2018 03:28 pm
By Alexandria Dennise San Juan
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology warned public anew to refrain from entering the eight kilometer danger zone of Mayon as alert level 4 remains in effect over the volcano since it started erupting for more than a month now.
On the latest volcano bulletin update of Phivolcs, the bureau strongly advised the public to be vigilant and desist from entering the eight-kilometer-radius danger zone of Mayon Volcano and to be additionally vigilant against pyroclastic density currents (PDCs), lahars and sediment-laden stream flows along channels draining the edifice.
Birds flies while Mount Mayon volcano spews ash in Daraga, Albay, February 7, 2018. (Czar Dancel/Manila Bulletin file photo)
According to Phivolcs, Mayon’s activity in the past 24 hours was characterized by sporadic and weak lava fountaining, lava flow and degassing from the summit crater.
The discrete episodes of lava fountaining, which lasted 18 minutes to two hours and 23 minutes, were also accompanied by rumbling and chugging sounds that are audible beyond 10 kilometers of the summit crater, Phivolcs said.
The 200-meter tall incandescent lava fountains also generated steam-laden plumes that rose to 400 meters from the summit before drifting southwest and west-southwest.
Throughout the night, lava flows and consequent incandescent rockfalls were observed by Phivolcs in the Miisi and Bonga-Buyuan channels.
Effused volumes of incandescent lava flows have advanced to 3.3 kilometers, 4.5 kilometers and 900 meters down the Miisi, Bonga and Basud Gullies, respectively, from the summit crater.
PDCs have also deposited to 4.6 kilometers of Miisi, 4.5 kilometers of Bonga, and 4.2 kilometers of Basud Gullies.
Meanwhile, Phivolcs recorded a total of 54 volcanic earthquakes, most of which corresponded to lava fountaining events of Mayon.
Electronic tilt and continuous GPS of Mayon's seismic monitoring network still record sustained swelling or inflation of the edifice since November and October last year, this is consistent with pressurization by magmatic intrusion.
With this, Phivolcs also reminded civil aviation authorities to advise pilots to avoid flying close to the volcano’s summit as ash from any sudden eruption can be hazardous to aircraft.
Birds flies while Mount Mayon volcano spews ash in Daraga, Albay, February 7, 2018. (Czar Dancel/Manila Bulletin file photo)
According to Phivolcs, Mayon’s activity in the past 24 hours was characterized by sporadic and weak lava fountaining, lava flow and degassing from the summit crater.
The discrete episodes of lava fountaining, which lasted 18 minutes to two hours and 23 minutes, were also accompanied by rumbling and chugging sounds that are audible beyond 10 kilometers of the summit crater, Phivolcs said.
The 200-meter tall incandescent lava fountains also generated steam-laden plumes that rose to 400 meters from the summit before drifting southwest and west-southwest.
Throughout the night, lava flows and consequent incandescent rockfalls were observed by Phivolcs in the Miisi and Bonga-Buyuan channels.
Effused volumes of incandescent lava flows have advanced to 3.3 kilometers, 4.5 kilometers and 900 meters down the Miisi, Bonga and Basud Gullies, respectively, from the summit crater.
PDCs have also deposited to 4.6 kilometers of Miisi, 4.5 kilometers of Bonga, and 4.2 kilometers of Basud Gullies.
Meanwhile, Phivolcs recorded a total of 54 volcanic earthquakes, most of which corresponded to lava fountaining events of Mayon.
Electronic tilt and continuous GPS of Mayon's seismic monitoring network still record sustained swelling or inflation of the edifice since November and October last year, this is consistent with pressurization by magmatic intrusion.
With this, Phivolcs also reminded civil aviation authorities to advise pilots to avoid flying close to the volcano’s summit as ash from any sudden eruption can be hazardous to aircraft.