Alert level for volcano in the Philippines raised after “explosive eruption”

Kanlaon volcano on the central island of Negros erupted for six minutes shortly before 7 p.m. (11:00 GMT), prompting warnings for nearby residents to wear face masks due to the danger of volcanic gases and falling ash.

“When it erupted, we heard a thunder-like sound,” 35-year-old Ethan Asentista-Khoo told AFP from his home in the village of Pula, about six kilometers from the volcano.

“There was something like a fire at the volcanic eruption that lasted about one to two minutes. I didn’t see any lava or rock coming out.”

The Philippines are located in the seismically active Pacific “Ring of Fire,” which is home to more than half of the world’s volcanoes.

Kanlaon is one of 24 active volcanoes in the archipelago state.

“An explosive eruption … produced a voluminous and incandescent plume of smoke that rose rapidly to a height of 5,000 meters above the vent,” the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said, raising the alert level from one to two on a scale of zero to five.

In addition, “probably short” avalanches of volcanic ash, rock and gases, so-called pyroclastic density currents, were observed on the slopes of Kanlaon.

Joe Alingasa, a rescue official for the municipality of San Carlos, said they plan to evacuate about 500 families from homes near the volcano “as soon as possible.”

“We have deployed a team for the initial evacuation of our residents,” Alingasa told AFP.

“We also took face masks with us because residents reported a strong smell of sulphur in the area.”

The Volcanology Agency said pilots should avoid flying near the volcano’s summit because ash from a sudden eruption could pose a danger to their aircraft.

Eruptions can be deadly, as pyroclastic flows and lahar flows, as well as ashfall, pose a threat to communities around the volcano.

Pyroclastic flows are a red-hot mixture of rock and ash that rush down the slopes of a volcano at high speed, burning everything in their path.

Lahars are massive streams of volcanic debris that accumulate on the slopes of volcanoes and are released during heavy rains. They can bury entire villages.

Heavy ash rain can cause roofs to collapse and jam aircraft engines.

The strongest volcanic eruption in the Philippines in recent years was the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1991, about 100 kilometers from Manila, which killed more than 800 people.

bur-amj/sn