MAYON VOLCANO NOW ON ALERT LEVEL 3; OVER 2K LIVING WITHIN 6-KM PERMANENT  DANGER ZONE ORDERED EVACUATED

THE Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) on Tuesday placed the alert status of Mayon Volcano from Level 2 or increasing unrest to Level 3 or increased tendency towards a hazardous eruption.

A total of 729 families or 2,889 individuals living within the six-kilometer permanent danger zone of Mayon Volcano were ordered evacuated, the Office of Civil Defense in Bicol (OCD-5) said.

According to Phivolcs, the repeated collapse of the unstable summit dome of Mayon Volcano has generated an increasing number and volume of rockfall events.

The agency said that since Jan. 1, a total of 346 rockfall events and four volcanic earthquakes were recorded, compared to 599 rockfall events from November to December 2025.

The rockfall events had durations of one to five minutes and transported lava debris within a kilometer range of the southern upper slopes.

Phivolcs added the volume of discrete rockfall, with observed incandescence at nighttime, increased on Monday, signaling an increase in dome growth and the onset of extrusion of new lava at the crater.

It said that an incandescent rockfall that appears glowing, especially at night indicates that the rocks came from the hot portions of the summit lava dome or from newly exposed volcanic material.

According to Phivolcs, at 12:26 p.m. Tuesday, pyroclastic density currents (PDCs) on the Bonga (southeast) Gully began generating from the collapse of newly extruded lava. Sulfur dioxide emission remains at baseline or background levels.

Phivolcs also observed persistent inflation of the eastern and southeastern slopes.

OCD-5 Director Claudio Yucot said the Albay Public Safety Emergency and Management Office (APSEMO) deployed Army trucks to assist in the evacuation Tuesday.

“Based on the report of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, it is an infusive magmatic eruption, meaning it’s not sudden. We don’t need to wait for the explosion. We need to evacuate them,”  Yucot said., referring to people living in the permanent danger zone of Mayon.

Meanwhile, pilots were advised to avoid flying close to the volcano’s summit as ash from any sudden eruption can be hazardous to aircraft.