AN “explosive eruption” was recorded yesterday at Kanlaon Volcano, or Mount Kanlaon, in Negros Island, prompting the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) to raise the volcano’s status to Alert Level 3 (magmatic unrest) from Level 2 (increasing unrest).
The eruption, the second this year, sent an ash column up to 4,000 meters into the sky and prompted emergency evacuations.
Phivolcs said the eruption occurred at the summit vent of the volcano at 3:03 p.m.
“Pyroclastic density currents descended the slopes on the general southeastern edifice based on IP (internet protocol) and thermal camera monitors,” Phivolcs said in a bulletin.
Phivolcs said the latest developments mean “magmatic eruption has begun that may progress to further explosive eruptions.”
“All local government units are advised to evacuate the 6-km radius from the summit of the volcano and must be prepared for additional evacuation if activity warrants,” Phivolcs said.
The first time Kanlaon Volcano erupted this year was on June 3. It was also an “explosive eruption” and produced a plume about 5,000 meters high. It prompted Phivolcs to raise the status to Alert Level 2 from Alert Level 1 (abnormal).
Ma. Antonia Bornas, chief of Phivolcs’ Volcano Monitoring and Eruption Prediction Division, said in a briefing that ashfalls were reported in Bago and La Carlota cities and Murcia town in Negros Occidental while pyroclastic density currents were observed southeast of La Catellana town, also in Negros Occidental, based on ocular observation.
Bornas also said the plume reached up to 4,000 meters, adding the eruption caused a “shock wave.”
Phivolcs raised Alert Level 3 as a precaution due to the possibility of another explosive eruption, Bornas also said, adding yesterday’s explosive eruption was “stronger” than that of the June 3 incident “based on observational parameters.”
Bornas said there is risk of lahar flow like in the June 3 incident, especially if there will be intense rains.
She reiterated that flying of aircraft close to volcano is discouraged due to the unrest.
EVACUATION
Bornas said Phivolcs recommended the evacuation of residents living inside a six-kilometer radius from the volcano, larger than the four-kilometer permanent danger zone.
She said communities should prepare for Alert Level 4, which means low-level magmatic eruption is underway.
The Office of Civil Defense (OCD) said evacuation “is being implemented for residents within a six-kilometer radius of the volcano.”
In a statement, it also said some 12,000 families or 54,000 individuals across the Western Visayas and Central Visayas regions may be affected.
The OCD said an inter-agency coordinating cell will be reactivated, composed of representatives from the Department of Health, Department of Social Welfare and Development, and the Department of the Interior and Local Government “to coordinate response efforts effectively.”
It said Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr, chairman of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, has issued directives “to respond and assist immediately, particularly in evacuating affected residents to avoid casualties.”
“Regional directors from the OCD in Regions 6 (Western Visayas) and 7 (Central Visayas) are actively engaged in these critical efforts,” the OCD said.
It said OCD and local authorities are “working diligently to ensure the safety of all residents in the affected areas.”
“Some local government units (LGU) have started evacuations. There’s already ashfall in LGUs (local government units) near Kanlaon,” Bryll Sanor, a disaster agency staff in Negros Occidental province, said by phone.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) assured the public that the agency is prepared to provide family food packs to Negros residents.
Social Welfare Secretary Rex Gatchalian directed the regional directors of the DSWD Field Offices 6 in Western Visayas and 7 in Central Visayas to coordinate with the affected LGUs and gave the assurance that food and non-food relief items have been prepositioned and will be augmented if needed.
Mt. Kanlaon is one of two dozen active volcanoes in the Philippines, which is located on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” where volcanic activity and earthquakes are common. — With Jocelyn Montemayor and Reuters
