MT. KANLAON ERUPTS, ALERT LEVEL 2 UP

MOUNT Kanlaon in Negros Island on Monday night erupted, producing a 5,000-meter plume, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology  (Phivolcs) said.

According to Phivolcs, the steam-driven or phreatic explosion, which lasted for six minutes, occurred at the summit vent at 6:51 p.m. Monday.

As of 8 p.m., Phivolcs raised Mt. Kanlaon’s alert level from  Alert Level 1 (abnormal) to Alert Level 2 (increasing unrest).

Alert level 2 means “there is current unrest driven by shallow magmatic processes that could eventually lead to further explosive eruptions or even precede hazardous magmatic eruption.”

Phivolcs said the “eruption produced a voluminous and incandescent plume that rapidly rose to 5,000 meters or 5 kilometers above the vent and probable short pyroclastic density currents approximately two to three kilometers down the southern and southeastern slopes.”

The report said the eruption was preceded by a relatively strong volcano-tectonic earthquake.

According to Phivolcs, there have been reports of coarse ashfall and sulfurous odors in communities on the western slopes of the volcano.

The agency is closely monitoring the volcano and any development will be relayed to all concerned stakeholders.

In an advisory, the La Castellana Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction Office said it is preparing for possible escalation of the alert level of Mt. Kanlaon.

The MDRRO advised residents to wear face masks, especially those who have respiratory illnesses.

Meanwhile, Canlaon City, Negros Oriental Mayor Jose Chubasco Cardenas ordered the evacuation of residents in barangays Masulog, Pula, Lumapao and Malaiba as well as their livestock.

The four barangays are located in the permanent danger zone.

Phivolcs said entering the four-km permanent danger zone is strictly prohibited due to increased chances of sudden and hazardous phreatic eruption.

Pilots were told to avoid flying close to the volcano’s summit as sudden phreatic eruptions could be hazardous to aircrafts.

.Kanlaon, one of the active volcanoes in the country, is located in the boundaries of Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental.