LEGAZPI CITY, PHILIPPINES — A prolonged lava flow is anticipated in Mayon Volcano as fresh magma continues to ascend to the summit crater, causing “very high” sulfur dioxide emissions that reached 6,703 tons, state volcanologists said over the weekend.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said the emissions were accompanied by 993 rockfall events, 53 volcanic earthquakes, and 15 pyroclastic density currents (PDCs) in the past three days.
Paul Alanis, Phivolcs resident volcanologist at the Lignon Hill Observatory in this city, said the sustained high values in the volcano’s abnormal parameters indicated that magma is continuously rising to the surface.
The rising magma inflated the northwest and southwest portions of Mayon.
Furthermore, Alanis said thick clouds prevented the Phivolcs team from conducting visual observations of Mayon in the past three days.
“Our instruments continued to record Mayon’s seismic activity, although we could not observe it visually because of thick clouds,” he said.
Meanwhile, Phivolcs said that sulfur dioxide emission of Mayon, which remains under Alert Level 3, increased from 2,132 tons on July 14 to 2,989 tons on July 15.
Phivolcs said that Mayon’s “very slow” effusion of lava flow stays at 2.8 kilometers (km) along Mi-isi Gully and 1.4 km along Bonga Gully, while lava dome collapse on both gullies extended to 4 km along Basud Gully.
Additionally, Phivolcs warned residents living near Mayon that heavy rainfall “could generate channel-confined lahars and sediment-laden streamflows in channels” of the volcano.
On the other hand, Albay Gov. Edcel Greco Lagman said there was still no reason to expand the volcano’s six-kilometer permanent danger zone amid the possible threat of lahar flow.
Lagman said the rains in the province have stopped.
“The rain has stopped in the past two to three days and there was hardly any rain felt (on Saturday), although we still maintain an alert status,” Lagman said.
Lagman added that at least 5,788 families in 25 barangays within the six-kilometer permanent danger zone have been evacuated.
“This may increase to 7,323 families if we experience a complex calamity or typhoon as well as the present abnormal activity of Mayon,” he said. – WhatALife!/Val
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