Manila Bulletin
Philippines
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Possibility of raising alert level 4 in Mayon Volcano not ruled out — Phivolcs chief
Philippines
National
Possibility of raising alert level 4 in Mayon Volcano not ruled out — Phivolcs chief
Possibility of raising alert level 4 in Mayon Volcano not ruled out — Phivolcs chief
Published Jun 9, 2023 05:54 am
Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) OIC Director Teresito Bacolcol said on Friday, June 9 that they are not ruling out the possibility of raising Mayon Volcano’s alert level from 3 to 4.
“There is always the possibility na itaas natin ‘to to alert level 4 (that we will raise it to alert level 4),” Bacolcol said in a public briefing.
Mayon Volcano has been placed under alert level 3 on June 8, as it is “currently in a relatively high level of unrest as magma is at the crater and hazardous eruption is possible within weeks or even days.”
“If we raise alert level 4, the permanent danger zone can be extended from six kilometers to eight kilometers,” he said in Filipino.
Phivolcs recommended the evacuation of residents within the six-kilometer permanent danger zone due to risk of pyroclastic density currents, lava flows, rockfalls, and other volcanic hazards when it raised Mayon Volcano’s alert level to 3.
Mayon Volcano emits white smoke, which was visible from Brgy. Anoling, Camalig, Albay on June 8, 2023. (Photo by Jeric Nobleza/via Nino Luces)
Monitoring parameters
Bacolcol explained that significant parameters such as the amount of sulfur dioxide, seismic activity, inflation of the volcano’s edifice, occurrence of lava flows and fountaining, and frequency of pyroclastic density currents (PDCs) are considered in raising the alert level of Mayon Volcano to 4. “We are looking at the increase in sulfur dioxide, the presence of long lava flows, lava fountaining, the presence of many volcanic earthquakes, swelling of the edifice of the volcano, and occurrence of minor explosions,” Bacolcol said. “So far, we have not seen those,” he pointed out. “The difference [from previous events] is that we don't see much of an increase in sulfur dioxide emissions now. This is one of our parameters. We have rockfall events, but we don't have many volcanic earthquakes,” he added. Bacolcol said Mayon Volcano’s sulfur dioxide emission was only about 300 tons per day, which is lower than its normal emission of 500 tons per day. Phivolcs also recorded no volcanic earthquakes in the past 24 hours.Possible scenarios
Bacolcol cited two past events as possible scenarios given the current activity of the Mayon Volcano. He said that in 2014, Mayon experienced multiple rockfall events and a brief lava flow before ceasing, while in 2018, the rockfall events led to a magmatic eruption. Bacolcol is hoping that Mayon’s current activity will be similar to the 2014 event, as “it was a relatively quiet eruption.”