Increased activity at Philippine volcano amid eruption fears

PHILIPPINES: Activity has increased at the rumbling Mayon volcano in the Philippines after a brief lull, as scientists warned Friday it could be the prelude to a more explosive eruption.

A hazardous eruption is "more likely" following the increased activity on Thursday, said Renato Solidum, head of the government's volcanology institute.

"We should not get the impression that the volcano is calming," he told AFP at an observatory office on the edge of this central Philippines city near Mayon.

Official warnings about Mayon, the country's most active volcano which has claimed more than 1,000 lives over the years, have forced the evacuation of about 40,000 villagers from around the central mountain.

Lava continued to flow down the slopes of the 8,070-foot (2,460-meter) high peak, Solidum said, reiterating that no one should enter an eight-kilometer (five-mile) danger zone set up around Mayon and patrolled by soldiers.

Sensors detected two powerful ash explosions on Thursday compared to only one on Wednesday and none on Tuesday, even as the crater continued to be obscured by rain clouds, he added.

A total of 27 volcanic quakes had been detected in the past 24 hours compared to only three on Wednesday and one on Tuesday, he said. The volcanic quakes were "a sign of the increasing ascent of magma" toward Mayon's crater, Solidum noted.

The volcano has been increasingly unstable since mid-July. On Monday, after a series of powerful explosions, government experts warned a dangerous eruption could take place within days.

Solidum remarked that Mayon had never started spewing lava without erupting soon thereafter, adding that the only difference in this case was that the eruption apparently was delayed.

The lull might have been a sign that pressure was building up in the volcano for an eventual powerful eruption, he said.

Cedric Daep, head of the provincial disaster relief effort, said that at least 38,455 villagers had been evacuated from the danger zone so far, herded into 24 evacuation centers in Legaspi city and nearby areas.

Legaspi, Friday, AFP