The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) has reported 13 ash emission events at Kanlaon Volcano during its 24-hour monitoring period from Thursday, Dec. 12 to Friday, Dec. 13.
In its bulletin released on Friday, Phivolcs observed that Kanlaon Volcano continues to exhibit “moderate” degassing, accompanied by occasional ash emissions.
It said the duration of the ash emissions varied, lasting between two minutes and one hour and 18 minutes.
Sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions from the volcano remained high at 3,999 tons as of Dec. 12. However, this was a decrease from the previous day's 7,019 tons.
The alert status remains at Level 3 (high level of volcanic unrest) as magmatic intrusion into shallow levels of the edifice could lead to hazardous eruptions within weeks.
The alert level had been raised following Kanlaon Volcano’s explosive eruption on Dec. 9, which sent ash and pyroclastic density currents across parts of Negros Island.
Under Alert Level 3, Phivolcs has expanded the danger zone from a four-kilometer to a six-kilometer radius around the summit crater.
Local government units have been advised to evacuate residents within the expanded zone and to be prepared for additional evacuations should the situation worsen.