The Mayon volcano, which stands at 8,077 foot tall, is one of the most active in the Philippines, erupted twice over the weekend, with the eruption continuing this week as a number of tremors rocked the island of Luzon.
The Philippines chief volcanologist has now warned of another eruption from Mt Mayon “within weeks or even within days” as magma continues to pile up at the summit.
The Mayon volcano was upgraded to a level three alert – which means the volcano is in a critical stage – as Mt Mayon exhibits “high unrest” with high levels of magma at its crater.
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Speaking to Rappler Talk, Dr Renato Solidum Jr, Phivolcs chief and Department of Science and Technology undersecretary for disaster risk reduction and climate change, outlined the dangers of a level three alert.
He said: “If we raise it to alert level three, then it is possible that a hazardous eruption may occur within the next several weeks or days.
“If it is alert level four, the hazardous eruption is possible within days or even hours.
“At this current activity level of alert level three, what is happening is it is already erupting. There is a magmatic eruption, meaning new materials are coming out not explosively.
“Lava is just cruising out of the crater slowly.”
Dr Renato Solidum Jr added the most hazardous danger people must be aware of is the possibility of pyroclastic flows as a result of another Mayon volcano eruption.
More than 25,000 people have been evacuated from villages near Mt Mayon, a tourist attraction because of its near-perfect cone shape, according to Albay Governor Al Francis Bichara.
The National Danger Risk Reduction and Management Council gave a smaller slightly smaller prediction, saying the numbers were closer to 22,000 evacuees.
Al Francis Bichara said; “This kind of eruption, it will take about weeks, so we have to sustain the operations in the evacuation centres.
“We need to use the calamity funds.”