The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) on Friday, Oct. 7 raised the alert status of Mayon Volcano from Alert Level 1 to Alert Level 2 due to “increasing unrest” in the active volcano’s activities.
“Since the Alert Level status of Mayon Volcano was raised from Alert Level 0 to Alert Level 1 on 21 August 2022, monitored parameters have been generally unremarkable. However, daily visual and camera monitoring of the summit crater revealed a continued aseismic growth of its lava dome,” Phivolcs said on Friday afternoon.
Phivolcs noted that as of Oct. 4, Mayon Volcano’s lava dome has increased in volume by approximately 48,000 cubic meters since Aug. 20.
In an ocular inspection of the summit during an aerial survey on Oct. 7, it has confirmed “freshly extruded lava at the base of the summit lava dome.”
“The event was signalled only by observations of thin remobilized light-colored ash, likely derived from lava fragmentation during the extrusion process, on the floor of the Miisi Gully since 2 October 2022,” Phivolcs said.
Phivolcs said there is an increasing unrest in Mayon Volcano’s activities driven by shallow magmatic processes that could eventually lead to phreatic eruptions or even precede hazardous magmatic eruption.
“The public is strongly advised to be vigilant and desist from entering the six-kilometer-radius Permanent Danger Zone (PDZ) to minimize risks from sudden explosions, rockfall and landslides,” it warned.
“In case of ash fall events that may affect communities downwind of Mayon’s crater, people should cover their nose and mouth with damp, clean cloth or dust mask,” it added.
Phivolcs also asked 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.