LEGAZPI CITY, Philippines – As the Mayon Volcano is showing increased signs of unrest, officials are beginning to evacuate thousands of Filipinos living near the mountain.
Located near Legazpi City in the province of Albay, Mayon is the most active volcano in the Philippines, according to the Smithsonian’s Global Volcanism Program.
The volcano’s recent activity caused officials to raise the alert level, as scientists noted a sharp increase in the number of rockfalls from the volcano’s summit lava dome, said the Philippines Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS).
A lava dome is a mound-shaped feature inside the crater or mouth of a volcano, according to the USGS. Lava domes form when magma builds up inside a volcano and pushes up on the crater floor, which sends debris down the volcano’s slopes in the form of rockfall.
On Saturday, PHIVOLCS recorded 59 rockfall events around Mayon within the past 24 hours. The agency also reported earthquake activity and large emissions of sulfur dioxide in that same time period.
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The alert level status of the volcano has been increased by local authorities over the past week.
On Monday, the status was raised from Alert Level 1 to Alert Level 2, as the growing summit dome on the volcano created an increasing number and amount of rockfall events, according to PHIVOLCS.
By Thursday, Mayon began to exhibit magmatic eruption of a summit lava dome, raising the status to Alert Level 3, or Increased Tendency Towards Hazardous Eruption.
PHIVOLCS noted that the volcano had increased chances of lava flows and hazardous pyroclastic density currents – or pyroclastic flows – along with chances of potential explosive activity within weeks or perhaps days.
The agency recommended that a 6-km (or 3.7-mile) radius around Mayon be evacuated due to the volcano hazards.
Mayon is stirring days before the 32nd anniversary of the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in northern Philippines. According to the USGS, the June 15, 1991, eruption of Pinatubo was the second-largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century.