Thousands flee as Philippine volcano spews lava
LEGASPI: Tens of thousands of villagers in the Philippines fled their homes today as one of the nation’s most active volcanoes spewed lava and sent ash plumes high into the sky, authorities said.Soldiers and police marshalled the evacuation from the so-called “danger zone” around the foothills of Mayon volcano, amid concerns a big eruption could occur at any moment.
“After the series of ash puffs and ash explosions of 1,000 metres (high), we cannot rule out a major explosion,” Cedric Daep, the head of the disaster relief operations in the region, told reporters.
Daep said the authorities aimed to evacuate nearly 50,000 people from villages within eight kilometres of the volcano by Thursday.
Albay provincial governor Joey Salceda said
nearly 21,000 people had been evacuated by nightfall on Tuesday.
“Zero casualties is still the goal of our province,” he told the ABS-CBN
network, explaining the huge evacuation well before any eruption.
Some of the residents of the farming villages were carried out on military trucks, while others walked out carrying boxes of belongings on their heads.
Salceda said he wanted a “state of imminent disaster” to be declared over the province so special disaster funds could be released to help pay for the evacuation.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology raised the alert
level for Mayon to three
on Monday after lava was seen spewing from the crater, and evacuations began immediately. Level three means an eruption is likely in the very near future. The scale runs from one to five, with five meaning an eruption is occurring. However, the volcanology institute also said Mayon could yet calm down without an eruption.
Mayon, which sits above a farming area about 330 km southeast of Manila, has erupted 48 times since records began, claiming thousands of lives.
After the most recent eruption in August 2006, huge deposits of volcanic ash were left on its
slopes. When typhoon Durian hit the same area
in December of that year, it caused a landslide of volcanic ash that killed over 1,000 people.In 1814, more than 1,200 people were killed as the lava buried the town of Cagsawa. However, the 2,460-metre volcano remains a popular tourist attraction, and is famous for its perfect cone.
The Philippines is part of the so-called Pacific “Ring of Fire” that is known for its volcanic activity. The Philippine volcanology institute lists 22 active volcanoes in the country.
