More than 4,000 residents in Albay have been displaced amid Mayon Volcano’s continued unrest under Alert Level 3, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) reported on Monday, Jan. 12.

In its latest report, the NDRRMC said 1,131 families or 4,141 persons were affected by the ongoing volcanic unrest of Mayon.

Of the total, 1,116 families or 4,092 persons were staying inside 14 evacuation centers while another 15 families or 48 persons were being assisted outside evacuation centers.

The highest number of evacuees came from Tabaco City with 489 families or 1,788 persons.

Malilipot followed with 406 families or 1,513 persons displaced while Camalig recorded 206 families or 728 persons evacuated.

Ligao City had 26 families or 96 persons displaced and Guinobatan listed four families or 16 persons staying in temporary shelters.

Classes were suspended in two local government units in Albay, namely Tabaco City and Malilipot. Suspensions covered pre-school and primary public schools starting January 6.

All 1,127 families requiring assistance have been served as total distributed assistance reached P8.65 million as of January 11. The aid included family food packs, ready-to-eat food, hygiene kits, sleeping kits, and other non-food items.

The Office of Civil Defense (OCD) activated red alert status and response clusters while local governments enforced preemptive evacuation within the six-kilometer permanent danger zone.

Military and police units were deployed to support evacuations and secure evacuation centers.

Under Alert Level 3, Mayon Volcano has an “increased tendency towards a hazardous eruption,” according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs).

The agency said Mayon is showing “magmatic eruption of a summit lava dome” which raises the chances of lava flows and hazardous pyroclastic density currents on the upper to middle slopes.

It also warned of possible explosive activity “within days or weeks.”