KANLAON VOLCANO SPEWS ASH ON CHRISTMAS EVE

THE Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said Kanlaon Volcano continued to show signs of unrest as it again spewed dark gray ash plumes on Christmas Eve.

Phivolcs said Kanlaon emitted dark plumes that lasted around 10 minutes and reached 1,200 meters tall before noon on Tuesday.

“Ash emission from the summit of Kanlaon Volcano resumes at 11:37 a.m. and is still ongoing, generating a dark plume 1200m tall that is expected to rain ash over the south and southwest sectors of the volcano,” Phivolcs said in a Facebook post past 12 p.m. Tuesday.

Kanlaon Volcano had a total of four ash emission events that lasted up to four hours and 25 mnutes on Monday, said Phivolcs.

State volcanologists said the ash emission from the volcano ended at 11:48 a.m. of the same day.

Twenty-five volcanic earthquakes including four very weak volcanic tremors were recorded over the volcano, which also lasted up to four hours and 35 minutes. This is higher compared to the 15 volcanic earthquakes reported on Sunday.

According to Phivolcs, Kanlaon Volcano emitted 2,200 tons of sulfur dioxide gas on Monday, which is lower compared to the 7,198 tons recorded the day before.

Phivolcs also said the volcano’s edifice is still inflated.

Alert Level 3 is maintained over Kanlaon Volcano, which means there is a high level of volcanic unrest.

Magmatic intrusion to shallow levels of the edifice is driving unrest, with indications that hazardous eruption could occur in weeks.